Tag: grief and motherhood

  • Jenna

    Going Home

    It’s hard to go back to the place I called home for so many years. Four walls that are dangerously close to feeling more foreign than comforting now almost eight months after September 29th. We pulled around the corner to 48 Amantes, just like I’ve done thousands of times, and some of those since he’s been gone. It never gets…

  • Jenna

    Baseball, Granddaughters & 2x4s

    Hey Dadio, Last week was the Padres home opener and the weather hit a soul-quenching 80 here in San Diego (there is so much pollen in the air, your allergies would be off the charts).  Did you hear that the Padres picked up Manny Machado? Remember when we sat so high in the nosebleeds at Angel stadium that I was…

  • Jenna

    Imperfect Takes Practice

    I feel like I’m chasing after something, perpetually a foot behind where I think should be. Offensive piles of laundry. Lost things and lost tempers. Where’s Monkey? Did you get Ergo? How is it only 8:30? How is it already 8:30? I can throw out compassion like Tic Tacs to other people. A break here, a bone there. But when…

  • Jenna

    The Story of Poppi

    I sweetly overheard Ryan the other night telling Maisley the story of “A Boy Named Poppi”. It gave me the idea to write my own bedtime story about Poppi’s life for the girls to always have. Unlike our other made-up stories about “Sammie the Kangaroo dog” and “Wolf Girl” on her flying scooter, this one is as real as I…

  • Jenna

    Me & Death: It’s Complicated

    Some of my best memories with my dad were spent in his white New Balance sneakers and light-wash, loose-fit Levi’s jeans; hiking, walking, doing chores, working on school projects, soccer games or hanging Christmas lights. He was casual and simple, with an extraordinary capacity for unconditional love and random acts of goodness. My dad consistently met chaos with peace and…

  • Jenna

    A First Laugh

    I laughed really hard for the first time since my dad died. I was sitting in the kitchen doing some writing while Maisley was pretending to nap. Our part-time nanny and friend, Jordan, peered around the corner and whispered, “Oh you gotta see this.” I got up to find Maisley standing in the hallway, butt naked, proud and smirking, anxiously…