Good Grievings

As I sit here and reminisce on the past as a kid at Christmas, I remember all the great things we did and I smile. Of course it’s not the same now having 2 beautiful girls of my own. Traditions change, new memories are made. Although one tradition I have kept is reading the same book “The night before Christmas” that my parents read to me on my first Christmas. The rule was, when I have my first kid I read it to him or her. When my oldest has her first boy or girl. She will do the same.

I love reading “the book” (as we called it growing up) to them. I hope every year that I don’t start tearing up when I read it, and every year I don’t. My girls either ask a question about it or talk about Santa… it’s always something that gets me distracted. Quick story: My mom always read the book to us, so the first year after she passed we were like, ” man reading the book this year is gonna be hard” We get to Christmas Eve in 2000. My dad started to read and he messes up reading the book so bad that we were hysterically laughing. Like laughing so hard we were crying. We eventually got through it but my dad took forever. He couldn’t even keep reading cause we were laughing so hard. I wound up finishing it.

My mom was so animated when she read it, that it must have been so awkward for my dad. But what a great story to always remember. These are the stories that help me get through. These are the goodgrievings that help me get through the sad times. So on this Christmas Eve if you are sad and your heart hurts like mine has a few times today, think of a happy times that you had with the loved one that passed. I hope that it makes you smile and maybe laugh. Remember that they are with you, even if you aren’t open to it.

Merry Christmas my friends. Thank you for being who you are!

I just wanted to say thank you for all the support I have received over the past year and half. I have met so many cool people on social media and that continues to grow.

Quick story: This lady came to my store last week, she was wanting to print some Christmas cards. She was asking me how it works so I started to help her. She picked a design and then I helped her add a photo to the card. The picture was of her dog, that I found out she adopted 8 years ago. She said this is the first year my husband and I aren’t on a Christmas card. You see her husband had passed away in September while they were evacuated from the hurricane. I continued to help as she started talking about him and how they were together for a long time. I don’t know what is it about my being, but others seem to know I’m a great listener when it comes to taking about grief and loved ones passing on. And these people don’t even know me 🤔. We kept chatting as I was helping her and I mentioned my mom passed away and she says “O so, you know” I responded, yes I do know, and I’m sorry that you have to deal with this now. I could see her day was a little brighter just by talking to me and of course because her Christmas cards came out so well. We finished our convo and she was ever so grateful for my help. She kept saying “thank you”. I gave her cards and shook her hand. I told her have a Merry Christmas and enjoy as much as you can.

I was meant to start doing all of this. The blog, the twitter, the podcast, thank you @soulgabashjazz. My first interview, thank you @chriswick_. So Grateful!

I was on Twitter this morning.  I read a tweet that asked,  If you have  stronger faith, does that make the grieving process easier?   I’m sure this question will get plenty of different responses. The answer for me though is No. It didn’t make it easier for me because even though I had been involved in the church growing up, I felt GOD had let me down by taking my Mom away from me. Even after all I did and believed in.  Some people think of faith as not only in God, but faith in themselves to do things with their life. Or faith that they can do crazy things like move cross-country twice =)

I grew up going to church every Sunday at 9am.  My sister and I  went to the same catholic school from kindergarten to 8th grade. We also both went to same catholic high school our mom went to.  My parents were a big part of the church, As they went on retreats and volunteered for almost everything. My sister and I did all the sacraments, and Sunday school. My families faith in God was real and it seemed like nothing could break it. When we got older and I went into High School we stopped going to church all the time. This didn’t mean our faith in the church, God and each other wasn’t still there.  We grew away from the every Sunday mass. I still used to go by myself, since the church that was apart of my HS was down the block from our old house.

My first ever job was working in the church on Sunday mornings. I used to set up for all 4 services. I made sure the priest’s garments were out and all the things were lined up. Even though I got paid for it, I felt there was more, I even thought about becoming a priest while working there. I was 17 and had no clue what I wanted to do with my life yet.  I was going to school, playing basketball, working on Sundays and doing homework.   I kept working in the church until I graduated from high school.  8 months after that is when my MOM died.  My faith hit rock bottom.  I was obviously angry at first, I was angry at GOD for taking my Mom from me.  Maybe it was because I was young when it happened and I didn’t know any better. Maybe my faith wasn’t as strong as I thought it was. You are probably asking yourself, Why be mad at God?  He is the one you should turn to in times like this, and not be mad at him.  It took me a long time to understand that you can’t be mad at God for taking a loved one from you, even though that is what makes most sense at that time. Don’t get me wrong, there are still some days I have anger about this. In those times I remind myself that I might not be where I am today if my mom was still here. I might not be the man I am today if it wasn’t for this tragedy. Had I been older when my mom passed, maybe my answer to the question above would have been yes. I still do have faith in God, even though I haven’t been in a catholic church since my sister passed almost 10 yrs ago.

I would love to hear what your answer would be to the question above and why. Send me a message and let me know. I want to thank  @maryanne_pope  her site is thepinkgazelle.com  for the inspiration on this post.  I absolutely love what she posts to her feed and love her site.

 

Here’s is an interview I did yesterday. I thought I would share it again. It’s very insightful. It actually took me longer than I thought to answer. Chris has some great questions that he came up with. Enjoy, and let me know what you think. I’m looking to do this more in the near future.

Hi, Tom. It’s a pleasure to get a chance to interview you after all of these months of interacting with each other! I’m glad we finally have a chance to&nbsp
— Read on www.chriswickinnovation.com/single-post/2018/11/23/Finding-Your-Inner-Spark-After-Trauma-With-Tom-Biddulph

Everyone for the most part hates change, right? Or maybe it is just me? I don’t know how others think, but a lot of the time I think others know what I’m thinking. As if those people are in my head at that exact time. I love this blog! I feel it has reached others and has helped others know they aren’t alone. Honestly ever since I have been on the @soulgabashjazz podcast, I have connected with so many more awesome souls. Which in return makes my soul happier. For some reason though, there is a void. No, the void isn’t related to death. It’s something in me, something I need to get filled. There is more out there for me and I don’t know 1. What it exactly is and 2. What direction to go in.

I was just on Twitter tweeting random thoughts. Now here I am randomly writing to who ever is gonna read this. (I tend to overthink about writing topics) Random huh? There is no direction with this #randomness (is that a word) Shit, it’s my blog so I can be random…. I wish I was more random in my life. We were out earlier and took the girls to the park. My wife made a good point and said why can’t you just live in the moment? Live in the moment? I thought, I do need to start. I’m always planning our/my next move. I should have just enjoyed the time at the park more, instead of knowing what we were gonna do next. Then I thought, maybe it has something to do with losing my mom the way I did. Like I don’t want to miss out on the next thing we do, cause life it short. I had an awesome time at the park though, even though it didn’t show it. I love that my girls call me for help, especially when my little one was climbing. We then went to eat and get frozen yogurt. Then off to our happy place for an awesome sunset.

I’m going to start living more in the moment. Sooner than later my girls won’t be asking for help to climb things at the park, they won’t be wanting me to always be there. Heck my oldest sometimes doesn’t want me to lay in bed with her before she sleeps anymore. (We sing songs and talk about our day) I ll always be there to help them. I have told them both especially when they are older that daddy will always be there, even if it’s 3am. (Lets hope it isn’t though haha).

Im off to bed again, gotta be up in 4hrs. The only reason I woke was cause my little one woke up crying. Maybe it was a good thing, it got me blogging. I didn’t have to overthink what my next topic would be. Right Ashley @randomobservationswithash @loveashleytay

From this evening venture!

Cheers,

-T

Never in my life was I so Anxious, even after losing my mom. Hurricane Florence hit our hometown in September and stuck around for three days. It was a Cat 4 before making landfall as a Cat 1. For all you non weather geeks, the Category of a hurricane goes off of how strong the winds were. Cat 1 is 74-99 mph sustained winds. (we had a gust of 104mph and also 24in of rain) My family and I evacuated to NJ with family. We left not knowing what we were going to come back to. Although it was a scary nervous time for us, we had neighbors who stayed and looked after our house.

The next morning we had gotten pictures of the siding that had came off the house from the wind. I kinda had a feeling that this was going to happen since the side of the house that it was on had nothing to block the wind. It was an open area without any trees and an easement where the rain water runs through from the street. We felt hopeless watching On tv from so far that our city was in a 3 day boxing match with Mother Nature. Later that night we had received more pictures of the house and rain water started to seep in behind the wood, from where the siding had came off. It was coming in from behind the wall through the window and electrical outlet-and into the living room. Luckily the morning we left I had a gut feeling that I should move all our furniture to the second floor and into the opposite rooms.

So, not knowing what was going to happen my anxiety got the best of me. I was a like a little baby and became selfish and wanted to be by myself. Not realizing that I had my wife and kids that needed me. It’s scary to think how much anxiety can affect ones being, and make them turn against others in the snap of a finger. I was so mad that I hurt the people that I love feelings, on top of dealing with Hurricane Flo! It wasn’t fair for me to be like that and I let all those feelings of old come back in.

My neighbor that stayed behind with her family was like an angel from god. She sprung into action. She took our garbage can, she took the storage bins we had the kids clothes in, and towels and placed them where the water was coming in the house to catch it. She was sending us pictures and we were like WOW! I still get goose bumps thinking about all she did for us. If it wasn’t for her, we wouldn’t have been able to stay in the house! The next morning when there was light she snapped a picture to show us that our ceiling in our living room had fallen. This was where the majority of the water came in. (Thank god this guy moved the furniture upstairs :)). Later that day our other neighbor next door to us had sent me a picture of them on a latter putting a huge tarp on the side of the house, to cover where the siding came off. That wasn’t a cheap tarp and plus it was a decent size area. Now I’m thinking to myself, How do we repay them?

The storm finally started pulling away and my house was secure from anymore water coming in. We get another picture of the living clean as a whistle. My Godsend of a neighbor cleaned up the ceiling that fell, she emptied the water out of the bins (probably about 6ins) , she cleaned and folded all the towels she used. Both of my neighbors actually picked up ALL the siding that came off the house and put in in the driveway. The days after the storm seems more hectic. We needed to make calls and figure out how we can get back home from NJ. A lot of roads were flooded and all the rivers were cresting. We decided to leave 2 days after the storm stopped. We needed to get back to normalcy, and I needed to get back to work. A normal trip home from where we were would have taken 9hrs straight. We got home in about 16hrs in two days!

Finally! We made it. Once we got home we were greeted by our neighbors. There were plenty of hugs to go around. It was great to be home and see our house. We got inside and saw first hand how clean it was (kudos to my better half for cleaning the entire house before left) on top of my neighbor cleaning up the mess. Here we are today, still waiting for things to be fixed. There is still plenty of debris in piles along the road, and still chainsaws cutting trees up. It may sound a little strange, but not only can you grieve a lost loved one or an animal. You can also grieve lost possessions ie a house/or even damage to a house that you are still able to live in, just like we are. At the end of the day you have to lean on each other to make it through. We all learn from our mistakes and if there is a next time (which I don’t) I ll be better at dealing with my anxiety so it doesn’t get the best of me. Thank you all for your support #goodgrieving

Cheers,

Tom

Not everyone can be super positive and upbeat each day.  There are days when I am feeling anxious, there are days when I feel down. If you follow me on twitter you may see me sending positive vibes and cheering others on.  You may see my feed and say to yourself, “wow this guy has got it together”  For the most part I do, and I love the connections I have made on social media. There are some days I just need to step back and let the day unfold.  If any specific day has me down, I have learned to tell myself that tomorrow is a new day.

With today being National Grief Awareness Day I wanted to thank those of you who signed the petition that I shared on Twitter. This petition was put out by Ms, Angie Cartwright in hopes that our government would recognize this day each year. I loved what she said on the site that I’m about to share.  https://www.change.org/p/declare-august-30th-national-grief-awareness-day   “silent grief, can become deadly grief”  I also wanted to mention that in the past week I have been seeing grief being talked about more and more.  Grief is not something that should be put to the side.  Grief is real and the more we talk about it, the more others who have lost loved ones will realize they aren’t alone in the process

Speaking about grief, can you grieve someone who is still with you? Think about that for a second. I have been thinking about that all week. You see my oldest daughter started kindergarten this week.  When I was driving her to school I thought about giving her, her first bath in the hospital when she was born, and my eyes welled up with tears.  So, the answer is YES! You can grieve someone that is still with you. I have been grieving that my baby isn’t a baby anymore. Everyone may interpret this differently since everyone grieves differently and at their own pace. My point is that you/we need to recognize it and speak about it no matter what. Thank you for reading my random thoughts about my week. live,laugh,love

Cheers,

Tom

 

 

 

I used to get upset when I saw a tv show where a son hugged his mom. I used to get emotional when I would see a son hug his mom in public. I used to get upset when I saw a family of 4, like mine growing up out at dinner. I used to get so angry that that wasn’t going to be us anymore. I used to ask god why and get mad at him. I used to just curl up and stay in bed. I used to be that one person that no one wanted to be around, because I was so miserable. I used to be so upset I would cry and scream because my mom wasn’t here with me.

Fast forward 9 in a half years. My sisters dies on the way to the hospital. It was an hour away from where I was, she died from a heart attack. Now, times all that what I said above by 2. I mean really, why me I asked myself? I used to, I used to, I used to. Don’t get me wrong, I still do. I still get that emptiness in the pit of my stomach when I see others families out and about. I still do get that feeling when a son hugs his Momma. It’s different now though. With all I have been through, with all the help along the way, with the writing, with the strength of my wife, I actually smile. I smile knowing they have each other. I smile knowing they get to spend that quality time. I smile knowing my mom is right by my side. I know it sounds strange, but if you are in the dark now you can turn that around. I didn’t say it was easy. That’s why I am here and chose to put my heart out. It’s to reach you or maybe someone else to get where I am. I am not perfect, I think about how life would be if my mom was still here all the time. Just last night at dinner I told my wife that I don’t think I would be the same person as I am if my mom was here.

Everyone has days when they are sad, depressed, anxious. I’m the same way! You may see me on twitter promoting positivity and all that good stuff, but I have my days. I do get anxious and sad. What works for me is 1. Deep Deep breaths. Like one of those clear your mind breaths. Breath in with the positivity, and out with the negative crap

2. Remembering how your loved one was and how they made you happy “taking the memories of your loved ones with you wherever you go.

Keep smiling, keep shining. It’s the only way I know. If you are really feeling down, come back and read some of earlier posts and see that you are not alone in the crazy world. Till next time goodgrievings

Cheers,

Tom

I never had a pet growing up. It honestly never came up in  conversation.  Now that I think about it, its kinda strange we didn’t have one. What kid doesn’t want to have a cute little kitten or puppy running around.  My youngest daughters birthday isn’t until January and she is already asking for a cat…

My wife grew up with several pets. She actually rescued one at the time we started dating, His name is Gato (spanish for cat). As the years went on (Gato) grew on me.  When it was time for my wife (girlfriend at the time) and I to move into our own place together Gato came along. Ya see my wife also had two other dogs and a cat that lived in the house with her. We felt bad for Gato, he looked lonely.  He would just sit under the bed for days. A few weeks later we decided to get another cat for Gato to play with. We named the cute little kitten Sophie They became best friends, yea there were fights here and there but they both were happy.

We lived in that apartment for three years until we decided to make our first cross-country move. Finally after 5 days of driving with all our stuff and 2 cats we arrived in Arizona. 2 years into living in our house we were getting ready to have our oldest daughter.  Gato became very territorial. He went from sleeping in the bassinet we had ready for the baby, to just being very jealous I guess. We didn’t want to take any chances with Gato and the baby being in the house together. Not that we didn’t trust Gato, so we decided to have Gato stay with my mother and father in law. Now, Sophie on the other hand was a super chill cat. I mean we did adopt her from my home town so she had to be chill right? Sophie was super protective of the baby. She would sleep on the corner of the bed, right by the bassinet. It was like she was protecting her.

Almost a year and a half later I was awoken by Sophie crying, like yelping in pain. My wife and I were like WTF.  It was about Midnight and Sophie was down the hall just crying as if she broke a leg. I ran back to the bedroom and told my wife. By the time I got back down the hallway Sophie had jumped into the tub in the front bathroom.  I took her out of the tub and brought her down to our room and placed her on the bed with my wife. Not knowing what was going on, we googled the closet animal hospital, which was 30 mins away. It’s now about 1230 and I’m getting Sophie in the carrier to bring her to the vet.

They took her back and I waited which seemed like forever. While I was waiting I was talking to the receptionist. This girl reminded me so much of my sister it wasn’t funny. It was just the way see presented herself.  I actually told her that she looked liked my sister.  Anyway, I finally got called back and it turns out that Sophie had a “saddle thrombus,” (blood clot that affects the hind legs) I had no clue WTH it was. I asked the doctor if she would make it, and if we were going to have to put her down.  I felt so bad, they were gonna keep her over night and I was to come back in the morning. Before I left I went back to see her in the cage and told her I would be back for her tomorrow.

We did our research on the symptoms of Thrombus. We went back to the hospital around noon the next day. The doctor told us that Sophie wasn’t able to fully use her back leg. They say pets know when there time is up. Some animals crawl into dark spaces when its there time. Others like Sophie showed no emotion. She sat there with my wife and I just starting at us. No purring like she usually did when we petted her. Just a blank stare, all three of us knew it was her time. The doctor came into the room and we told him our decision. He asked if we wanted to be there for her last moments, and of course I said yes. My wife stayed behind. The Doctor explained what would happen and that it would be quick and painless.  I stood there over Sophie watching her blink every so still. I was petting her trying to hold back the tears. The Doctor says “its done” I gave her a kiss and walked away, and started crying like a baby.  Who knew losing a pet would be this painful. To this day I still say that was one of the hardest things I ever had to do.  Sophie now stays with us all the time. Her ashes are inside a little tie die box. On the front of the box it has her little paw print which is a  symbolic way to remember that super chill cat.

It has been 4 years since Sophie left us and we still bring up stories about her.  My oldest daughter will just randomly say  “I miss Sophie”, and we will say “yea we do to Bri”    Till next time Let your Grief Heal You.

Cheers,

Tom

I did my first podcast last Saturday and it was AWESOME! (Link below) @soulgabashjazz are the best. I don’t know why I was a bit nervous about it. Maybe it was out of my comfort zone? I have a blog, so all my life’s tragedies and pain and happiness are out there. So what was it? It was something new! That’s it’s, and now that I got through that the second and third and so on will be easy. I actually loved speaking about what I write about. I think it gives the readers I have a different perspective about what @goodgrievings is all about. It was kinda cool putting a voice to the writing. I know there are some that are skeptical about some of my stories, but I’m not the one to just put my stuff out there without there being any truth to it.

My word is my bond, I want others to be comforted by what I write. I want others to know that if you do have these same feelings and sensations, you aren’t the only one. It’s all real! Everyone has the ability to sense spirit, some are just stronger than others. For the time being I’m not foreseeing this ability to much. The main reason is because it is draining. You also have to be great at keeping yourself grounded, since there is bad spirit out there. I have had an instance in the very beginning when I was unaware of the full ability when I was spiritually attacked. It feels like your breath is being taken away from you and your chest is super heavy. Take my advice, if you have this ability and you move forward with it. Be careful! It’s real! #FRFR

There is a first time for everything, I mean I was nervous as hell to get my first post out there. I reread my posts after the podcast and I have seen a great improvement in what I write. Heck my first post wasn’t even a full paragraph, Lol. I’m not sure what the next first thing there is for me yet. I many ideas, maybe my own podcast? Maybe something more. I guess you will just have to keep checking back to see what my next first thing will be.

Here is my first podcast. Hope you Enjoy!

https://anchor.fm/soul-gab-with-ash–jazz/episodes/Episode-18-e1v0kq

Cheers,

Tom