Emily Racette VA & Grief Writer Living Alongside Grief: Post 36 The Life They Never Got to See Sometimes I wonder what my dad and my sister would think if they could spend one ordinary day with me now. Not a holiday. Not a milestone. Just a random Tuesday. For awhile, I imagined that conversation being filled with everything we’ve missed. Everything that happened after they were gone. Everything I wish I could tell them. But lately I’ve started thinking about something different. I wonder...
2 months ago • 2 min read
Emily Racette VA & Grief Writer Living Alongside Grief: Post 35 I’m Learning to Live in a World I Never Wanted There are obvious ways grief changes a person. You expect the tears. You expect the loneliness. You expect the anniversaries and the empty chairs and the moments that take your breath away. What no one tells you is that grief quietly changes hundreds of little things too. It changes how you look at time. It changes how you look at people. It changes how you look at yourself. For me,...
3 months ago • 2 min read
Emily Racette VA & Grief Writer Living Alongside Grief: Post 34 I’m Learning to Live in a World I Never Wanted There are days when I still have the same thought I’ve had since the beginning. I’m supposed to live in a world where they don’t exist??? I know they’re gone. Of course I know they’re gone. I was there. I’ve lived through the phone calls, the funerals, the birthdays they’ve missed, the holidays that feel different, and all of the ordinary Thursdays in between. I know it. But...
4 months ago • 2 min read
Emily Racette VA & Grief Writer Living Alongside Grief: Post 32 I don’t think loss is something you heal froM I’ve heard the word “healing” used a lot when it comes to grief. And I understand why people use it. It sounds hopeful. It sounds like something is moving forward. Like eventually things will feel better or go back to normal in some way. But if I’m being honest, that word has never really sat right with me. Because when I think of healing, I think of something that eventually returns...
6 months ago • 1 min read
Emily Racette Virtual Services Heart 2 Help Circle: Post 31 The Subtle Ways Grief Changes How You See the World There are the loud parts of loss — the shock, the tears, the moment everything changes. And then there are the quieter parts. The ones that don’t arrive all at once. The ones you notice later, in the middle of everyday life. The way certain things land heavier than they used to. The way other things stop feeling as important. The way you move through familiar places and feel...
8 months ago • 1 min read
Emily Racette Virtual Services Heart 2 Help Circle: Post 30 When Nothing Is Wrong, But You Still Don’t Feel Okay There’s a part of grief that’s hard to talk about — not because it’s too intense, but because it’s subtle. It’s the grief that shows up when nothing specific is wrong. When life looks stable. When there’s no obvious reason for the extra heaviness. And yet even in these "quieter moments" — you still don’t feel okay. February often carries this kind of emotional turmoil. The urgency...
9 months ago • 2 min read
Emily Racette Virtual Services Heart 2 Help Circle: Post 29 The Tiredness That Arrives After Everything Slows Down January often arrives quietly, but it doesn’t feel light. After the noise fades — the gatherings, the expectations, the constant movement — there’s a kind of emotional settling that happens. Not relief exactly. More like the moment when everything you’ve been carrying finally has room to actually be felt. What surprises many people is how tired they are once things slow down. Not...
9 months ago • 1 min read
Emily Racette Virtual Services Heart 2 Help Circle: Post 28 Another Year without Them The turning of a new year carries a weight that’s hard to explain unless you’ve lived it. For many, New Year’s is framed as a reset - a fresh start, a clean slate. But when you’re grieving, the calendar change can feel more like an awful reminder than a new beginning. Another year without your person. Another reminder that time keeps moving, even when part of your life feels permanently paused. There’s...
10 months ago • 1 min read
Emily Racette Virtual Services Heart 2 Help Circle: Post 27 When Holiday Traditions Carry Grief There’s no way around it - traditions change after loss. Some feel unbearable - too closely tied to the person who’s gone. Others suddenly feel sacred, even if they once felt ordinary. And some sit somewhere in between, heavy with memory but still hard to let go of. Christmas traditions often hold more than we realize, especially when we are grieving. They carry voices, routines, inside jokes,...
10 months ago • 1 min read