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• Post #4399086

  I searched everywhere for the outdoor weather station sensor and just couldn’t find it. A friend suggested I think of it as an adventure, but I was mostly frustrated. In the end, it became another reminder of all the little things I can no longer ask Dad. Finding the sensor brought some relief, but it also made me realize how much I still miss being able to turn to him for answers. #GriefJourney #Remembering #LifeReflections #Family #EverydayLife

• Post #3840518

  Three good things from today’s dryer adventure: 1. The dryer held on long enough to finish my first load before making a horrible noise and giving up for good. 2. Chose a dryer that worked without losing money to find that out. 3. I had enough quarters for the dryer. The downside? There’s no air conditioning in there, and the cooler outdoor air is full of smoke from the Canadian wildfires. Geeeeeeezzzzzzz. #ThreeGoodThings #3goodthings #LaundryDay #Adulting #WildfireSmoke #UpperMichigan

• Post #3643280

  A different perspective of the Mackinac Bridge today. Standing beneath it in the fog, the steel seemed to disappear into the mist while the gentle waves lapped at the shore. A quiet moment in a place that has always felt like home. #MackinacBridge #Michigan #StraitsOfMackinac #PureMichigan #Fog #GreatLakes #today #gratitude

• Post #3643279

  #CatsOfMastodon #caturday #BlackCat

• Post #3643278

  I’ve been going through old photos and this one packed a wallop for me. I reimagined the original photo as a painting before sharing it, but nothing could change what this moment means to me. I was a teenager, proud of the Thanksgiving pie I’d made, while Dad finished carving the turkey behind me. Over the years, this photo has come to mean so much more. It reminds me of how he was always there—steady, supportive, quick with a smile, and always ready to make me laugh. Those are the memories I’ll...

• Post #3525132

  1. I was channel surfing on Sling TV and happened to catch the very end of Saturday Night Fever. It was just enough to send me straight to the soundtrack. 2. One album turned into another—first Kool & The Gang (Get Down on It and Ladies Night), then Earth, Wind & Fire (Let's Groove), and now Chaka Khan (I Feel For You). I've had the music turned up and haven't wanted to stop listening. 3. A good reminder that music really is good for the soul. It has an amazing way of lifti...

• Post #3492549

  1. Thankful the cleaners came last week and cleaned years of dirt, grime and nicotine from the ceiling fans. Expecting a high of 95F / 35C here in Upper Michigan today with a heat index of 105F / 40.5C. 2. Old habits from childhood kicked in - close up all the windows and draw all the shades early during a heatwave and you don’t have air conditioning. 3. Making good progress in the clean out of my dad and brother’s place after being here a month. #today #heatwave #gratitude #michigan #Thr...

• Post #3389195

  1. Had the bathroom and kitchen professionally cleaned on Monday, including all the ceiling fans. The difference is remarkable. 2. Had the grass mowed this morning by a local fellow. It hadn’t been cut since last September when my brother last took care of it. 3. Coming here for two months to sort through things was absolutely the right decision. While I can’t move the heavy items, I’ve been able to bag, box, and donate many useful things to local charities. Bonus: The cooler Upper Michigan w...

• Post #3313354

  1. Got the car packed today for the long road trip that starts tomorrow. 2. Not feeling nearly as anxious today about the trip and leaving my safety bubble to take care of unpleasant and heart wrenching things at my dad and brother’s place. 3. My sweet Girlie was my pal again today. #threeGoodThings #3goodThings #gratitude #caturdayeveryday #blackcatsofmastodon #blackcat

• Post #3313353

  1. I am finally back in my home state of Michigan! 2. Drove through severe rainstorms in lower Michigan today but it is not raining here in Mackinaw City. 3. The flying insects in the video are midges that have recently hatched. Fortunately, they are the non-biting variety. #ThreeGoodThings #mackinawcity #michigan #3goodthings #today #gratitude

• Post #2427580

  1. No tear of the retina was found today (detachment of the vitreous is what's causing the floaters and flashing lights). 2. Trip to Michigan delayed for a month until I'm rechecked, but that just gives me more time to settle things here at home first (and to plan my route to and from Michigan). 3. Got the new lens for my new full-frame camera, and wow, what a difference it makes for my photographs! #ThreeGoodThings #3goodthings #gratitude #eyehealth #today

• Post #1911093

  I created this by combining two of my own photographs using digital editing, and I’m honestly so happy with how it turned out. This new image is what I see in my mind’s eye when I think about Dad’s place—and something I’ll carry in my heart forever. Even though the image is a bit grainy and noisy, it feels true to how memory works—piecing together moments that aren’t always perfectly clear. One photo that I used was of the window, taken early one morning in 2022 when Dad was waiting for me to...

• Post #801808

  Three good things today: The steady rhythm of Lake Superior waves at sunset — that familiar, grounding sound that hasn’t changed. A memory from 2024 with Dad, staying at my grandparents’ cabin west of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, a place that was theirs until the 70s. Realizing that even now, that shoreline still sounds like home to me. #ThreeGoodThings #LakeSuperior #3goodthings #GriefJourney #Home #Michigan #QuietMoments #MindfulLiving

• Post #634901

  @Lizette603_23 thank you so much.

• Post #634900

  @Lizette603_23 Oh my, you made me laugh, and boy, did I need that. Add to that - "that which doesn't kill us will make us stronger". Gee, thanks. Seriously, though, I understand that people don't know what to say. And given there are people in real life who have yet to say a word to me, I'd rather someone say something ridiculous because that is better than nothing and it's good for a laugh sometimes, like now. Hugs to you.

• Post #478545

  Kindness doesn’t always show up when I expect it. I’m learning I can’t control that—only how much space I give it, and who I choose to remain. When I was a teenager, Dad and I were at a grocery store checkout where the cashier was having a hard day. Dad met her with kindness anyway,. I asked him how he could do that and he told me, “Her bad mood doesn’t have to change who I am.” I’ve carried that lesson with me ever since. Some days it’s easier than others. But it’s still the way I want to mo...

• Post #478544

  Stepping out the front door and seeing snow still covering the ground here in Virginia. It feels surreal—quiet, bright, and almost borrowed from somewhere farther north. Thinking about Dad as this storm moved through. He passed while it was still underway. Being from Michigan, snow never surprised him—but Virginia snow usually disappears so quickly that he was always a little amused by it. Except this time it didn’t. Nearly two weeks later, the snow is still here, the cold holding on. It feels...

• Post #478540

  Turning the calendar page today was harder than I expected. That last month held the final days of my dad’s life, and letting it go felt like I was moving farther away from him. This photo, Solitude at Sunset, helps. That’s my dad in the silhouette. I took this years ago, after Mom had already been gone for a while, and gave it to him for Father’s Day. Somehow it feels like it’s come back to me now — a quiet reminder that love doesn’t disappear just because time keeps moving. And the third thi...

• Post #478539

  A month ago today, Dad died. Somehow that feels both recent and far away, and I’m trying not to let the passing days make him feel further from me. This photo was taken in 2022, just south of Grayling, Michigan. I was driving him to Virginia so he could live with us. The road stretched out ahead of us, and we had no idea what the next years would hold. But we were happy to be on the journey together. A few days before that trip, he left me a voicemail telling me he loved me and was happy I w...

• Post #478538

  The losses keep coming, each one testing my strength. Today my uncle passed away — just over a month after losing my dad, his brother. It feels heavy, but I will keep going. But I’m still here. Still breathing. Still choosing to look for small things to hold onto. 1. Dad and my uncle are no longer separated by illness or time. 2. I am stronger than I feel in the middle of the night. 3. I am not walking through this completely alone. Bonus: This sunrise on the Blue Ridge Parkway is one of the...

• Post #478537

  1. Today was one of the hardest tasks. We brought Dad’s ashes home. 2. I’m grateful I didn’t do it alone. 3. He’ll be laid to rest beside Mom later in spring or summer — his final wish. #Grief #Bereavement #Remembering #LifeAfterLoss #today

• Post #204326

  1. The photo shows my boon companion and a welcome shadow as I begin to navigate life without Dad. 2. She really is the sweetest cat in the world — despite the slightly grumpy look she’s giving here. 3. Girlie gives me something tender to focus on, a small anchor to steady me as I move through my days. #3GoodThings #ThreeGoodThings #CatsOfMastodon #BlackCat #caturday