My friend is dying. It started 18 months ago with headaches, and odd searching for words, moved to a diagnosis of glioblastoma, and has now shifted to hospice care. She is 41. She has a husband, and two young children. Until her illness, she worked to connect farmers and hungry people. We are not particularly close. I kept up with her life through social media; I don’t know if she followed mine. We met many […]
Today, October 15, is recognized as Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day. On this day, we remember those who have lost children through miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, stillbirth, SIDS, or newborn death. I have been pregnant five times. I have given birth twice. The other three pregnancies, including my first two, ended in unexplained miscarriage. Many people keep their losses to themselves, for a wide variety of reasons. This may especially be true for the partners, […]
birch & raven 