Clare Consultation, LLCLost but never alone
We’ve just passed the winter solstice. It’s dark. Still, we all know the next stop will be spring. The path is clear, but we’re tired and the way seems very long. We also know the turn to spring will not be a solid stop. From there we’ll proceed to summer, through autumn, back to winter. All we have for sure is change. No one has been able to say the singular thing… Read More
Grief & Gratitude
Grief is the price we pay for love. Queen Elizabeth II – Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. Melody Beattie – This morning, a dear friend posted a photo of his 5-year-old granddaughter in honor of her birthday. Five!! Already. Earlier this month, the day passed that marked a year since the death of my friend and mentor, Roy… Read More
My Nephew’s Body will be Buried Today
“It will always be important to have a community of people who support each other and work together for the struggle. Yes, for the struggle for all people.” Bruce McQuakay Saturday Memorial Day weekend, 2017 Seven years ago, on Fathers’ Day, Bruce McQuakay and I saw one another at the annual Delta Park pow wow. Bruce, who described himself as Tlingit and Apache, was not a father yet – that was still… Read More
in memorium: Nohemi Gonzalez – 10.19.1992/11.13.2015
Nohemi Gonzalez in her words: I am Mexican American and I also happen to be first generation born in the United States. I grew up in Whittier [California] and had a very hard working mother that raised me to be extremely independent. If I had to describe myself in a few words I would say I am very high spirited, clean, orderly and self driven. Nohemi was a student of design, studying… Read More
Speaking Earth Day
Yesterday, Gary and I spent the day with a small group of people investigating grief. It was a rich, intelligent, and healing time. We call the workshop The Nature of Grief. And, in it, we weave together Gary’s storytelling and literary acumen with my knowledge of psychology and education applied to emotional, mental and spiritual health. It’s good work. We can tell by the responses of the people who join us –… Read More
Grief Comes Home
Recently, a friend just older told me something about death that seems now obvious – the observation that sometime in a person’s fourth or fifth decade there is a subtle shift of awareness that shows up as no longer understanding one’s life in terms of how long it’s been since birth, but rather in relation to how much time is left. It’s a shift that calls forward a new relationship with death… Read More