2 Years Grieving

-

By: Janet M  Norman

This is the man I loved and still love. This is why I write this blog: to keep our love legacy alive and to help others understand what life can be like while grieving. 








I just want to thank everyone who reached out to check on me over these two years without my love. Loneliness is a slow death. With both my sons off at college out of state I have had to be introspective and challenge myself to get out of bed just to go to work. 


Anxiety and Depression are such serious mental illnesses. I got sucked into a deep pit of despair this past year and I’m truly thankful for the calls from my sons and my loving friend Carol Hartwell to check in on me daily and bi-weekly. If it wasn’t for the love I have for my Savior, I’m not sure if my life would be as it is. In fact, I know it wouldn’t. 


As people are grieving, emotions are all over the place. Sometimes we want to talk, other times we don’t. We can be happy, sad, angry, exhausted, and a plethora of emotions all wrapped up into a great knot on your life rope. Having people in your life that you trust is vital for climbing back into society. 


If you have never lost a loved one, experiencing that pain is just unexplainable until life has you experience it. I lost my mother when I was 29, my dad when I was 45, and my husband when I was 48. That’s a lot of loss. With no family in Naples and extended family in South Carolina and the Midwest, my friends are my life line for people connection. 


So if you have been a part of my life at some point - thank you. If I haven’t called or texted, I just didn’t have the energy for it. If you want to be part of my life, send me a text or a message to get together. I am forcing myself to start LIVING again. I just have to do it. I know Jason would want me to be happy.  This is my way of taking the first step into new happiness. 



I saw this picture sign at Home Goods today and it really hit home. I have to want joy and I do. As always, I will close with my life verses. “Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”

‭‭1 Thessalonians‬ ‭5‬:‭16‬-‭18‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Newness and Freedom in Surrender

-
Image
  My 5-Year Tribute to My Jason On the eve of your five-year anniversary in heaven — your heavenly birthday, the day you met your Creator and Savior face to face — I find myself remembering the moment I was told we needed to get back to the hospital. My colleagues had just come by to bring dinner and visit, and it was cut short by a phone call. I hadn’t even taken the shower I came home for. The numbness you feel, when deep in your soul you know — without seeing — that the love of your life will no longer be physically with you, hits like a swift kick to the gut. I was in shock. In disbelief. And I simply did not want this to be my new reality. Should I have done more? Questions like that creep into your mind from the enemy, when our Savior is simply waiting for our surrender — because all Jesus wants to do is carry our burden. The enemy keeps us trapped in our own thoughts, trying to fix what cannot be fixed. But patiently, like the truest gentleman, the Holy Spirit waits to comfo...
Read more

The Gift of a Dream on Our Anniversary

-
Image
The Gift of a Dream on Our Anniversary By: Janet M. Norman Today would have been our 31st wedding anniversary. Thirty-one years. Sometimes I can hardly believe that much time has passed. And sometimes it feels like yesterday. I found myself talking to the Lord about Jason today. Not with polished words. Not with some beautiful, carefully constructed prayer. Just honesty. “Lord, I miss him.” I miss my husband. I miss my best friend. I miss the man who knew me in ways no one else ever could. I miss the life we built, the ordinary days that I didn't realize would one day become some of my most treasured memories. I miss hiking with him. I miss Colorado. I miss the mountains rising in front of us, the sound of our footsteps on the trail, the crisp air, the enormous sky, and the feeling that there was nowhere else we needed to be. There was something about hiking together that I loved. We were moving forward, side by side. Sometimes we talked. Sometimes we were quiet. Sometimes the trai...
Read more

Reflection

-
Image
As another year closes let’s not forget to reflect upon the year. What were some happy moments that left your heart smiling?  Were there moments in which you needed to pause and take time to think things through before making a decision?  How about those valley moments where tears were shed and you realized you needed help?  Well, I can attest, my year has had all of these moments and much more. From January to May I finished my 27th year in public school teaching. June and July required me to be obedient to a calling to shift from public school teaching to teaching in a private Christian academy. I dove in and answered the call without hesitation because I knew the Lord had great plans for me.  From the New Living Translation the book of Jeremiah‬ ‭29‬:‭11‬ says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.  https://bible.com/bible/116/jer.29.11.NLT This should bring great ...
Read more