I am excited to announce the launch of Shared Grief Journal, a space where I will share other people’s poems and stories about grief. This project was inspired by how essential and healing writing and sharing my work has been for me in my grief journey. In addition to creating grief writing prompts and offering grief groups where people can connect authentically through the power of writing, I wanted to offer a new way for people to share their writing and honor their loved ones. A way for people to witness the grief of others and see their own reflected in it.
I wrote a poem about witnessing someone else’s grief while traveling on one of our Riley Day trips. Every year our family goes somewhere new to celebrate and honor my son’s life on the anniversary of his death, March 6th.
Postcards from Riley Day trips.
Photo from Riley Day in Cabo.
This moment of grief I saw made me realize how crucial it is to not look away from the grief of others. We are one and the same. If we look away from the grief of others, we are looking away from our own.
On the Anniversary of Your Son’s Death Plan a trip to Hawaii. Buy non-refundable tickets. Toss whatever into your suitcase. Walk past the photo of him in your arms, and the wooden sailboat he sanded smooth in kindergarten. Before you board the plane, drink a margarita. Order the cheap red wine split in-flight. Eat the bag of chocolate chip cookies. Savor the hour-gate-waiting delay at Kahului. Sway with the palms your window frames. Ignore the feeling you’ve forgotten something. When the woman next to you answers an urgent call with, No! I just saw him this morning…he was fine, listen to her sob. Don’t avert your eyes when she looks at you. Breathe the frozen air like an alpine climber.
Riley Day
A six-year-old dies. A holiday is born. Every year on his death day, March 6th, his family travels somewhere new in his honor. They named it “Riley Day,” after him and his love of holidays.
“Mommy, why don’t we ever visit anyone? Why do they always come to us?” Riley asked when he was six, just weeks before he died. “I want to fly,” he said.
A child’s dying wish. A vow to keep his spirit alive.
I hope that you will visit the Shared Grief Journal here, read, perhaps submit your own poetry or stories for publication, and share with others.
