Grief
I am a bereaved father. My firstborn son, Emerson, died in 2017 at 18 months old. Writing is one of the ways I process my grief. Below are the posts that capture some of that processing.
Milestones
This past week was our firstborn son’s eighth birthday. It was our seventh without him here. Another milestone reminding us of his absence. Losing a loved one is not a one-time event. Like birth, death brings its own anniversaries, its own milestones.
About Me 004: Doors
It’s been a while since I’ve done an “About Me” post, so here is one about significant doors in my life. 1 My childhood bedroom door was at the end of the hallway, on the right side, but angled in just slightly so that, if my bed was against the wall, I could look out my door and down the hallway, through the living room, and into th…
Viewing Children as Our Peers
At “Writing Under the Writing,” I explore ideas related to my writing practices and projects. While this connection to my writing is implicit, sometimes the posts may feel like a random smattering of thoughts. In order to make my posts a little more coherent, I’ve decided to start adding a paragraph or two ab…
Good Friday and Child Loss
Note: This is an entry for a community devotional I originally wrote in 2019. I reposted it on my Wordpress blog in 2021. I’ve made some minor changes in order to repost it here. The text for the day was Psalm 22. Five days before Christmas, 2017, our 18-month-old son died unexpectedly. He was perfectly healthy, and there is no known cause of death. I ca…
The Honey of Peace in Old Poems
Sometimes I make a serendipitous book acquisition. A title catches my eye, an author sounds vaguely familiar, the book has been referenced in something else I’m reading. I may sit down that day with the book and discover its magical wisdom, somehow exactly
I Don't Know Yet, But I'm Here Doing It
On Christmas Eve, my 5-year-old son Finley participated in his first Christmas pageant. The children’s pastor had asked him two weeks prior if he wanted to be a shepherd. He replied with his signature response: “I don’t know yet.” The day before, we asked him again. “I don’t know yet.” We asked him the morning of. “I don’t know yet!”
About Me (Part 003): Death
Trigger warning: talk of death. At section 16, I tell my own story of child loss.