Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.  We all know the folly of this childhood chant.  We know that words can hurt, divide, inflame, shame, and even bring about wars.  Dangerous words spill from the mouths of those who want attention, from those who feel threatened, and, these days, from politicians who seek to divide and conquer.

But According to Brené Brown, celebrated researcher on shame and vulnerability, the two most perilous words on the planet are not often spoken aloud.  They are our little secret.  But they cause a great deal of mischief in our lives and in the world. . . . Click here to read more 🙂

My mother died.  Those three words are hard to write, let alone process.  For me, the finality of never hearing my mother’s voice again or having the chance to talk over old issues or discover something new about her childhood—are all swallowed up in a black hole of mystery that is beyond me now.  Game’s up.  No more chances.  It feels kind of brutal and unfair.

But she was elderly and ready to go and died peacefully in the night, the way we all wish to go.  So I did not anticipate any earth-shaking emotions.  How wrong I was!  A parent’s passing under any condition is never anything but earth-shaking. . . . Click here to read more 🙂

Source: Grief Takes a Road Trip