Good Grievings

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

There is nothing like the Jersey Shore!! The beach/boardwalk/food… ya get it. As I sit here just relaxing with some Zach Brown on and my toes in the sand, I can’t but help to think how it would be with my mom here with us. Growing up I hated the beach. I would always need an umbrella and things to keep me occupied for the day. My Mom would have to drag me with her. For some reason I kept going, probably because when I was younger I didn’t have a choice. As I got older I kept going, maybe it was meant for me to keep going since life was gonna throw me that curve ball when my mom passed.

Here we are today, I am at my place of Zen relaxing. My kids are having a blast, playing in the water and sand (nothing like how I was). I sit here knowing my mom is watching us and the girls enjoy the hell out of the Jersey Shore. She would be so happy being around her grandkids. But I know now that it was all meant to be like this. It was meant for me to be so happy even after all the tragedy and pain I had to go through. As you all know now, I’m defiantly ok with and have accepted it.

I’m gonna enjoy these last couple days of our trip and soak up some sun! I’m gonna drink some beers, I’m gonna eat some delicious food, I’m gonna embrace my life as I know it and keep on living my life, but also continue to keep the memories of my Mom with me and know that she is always with my family wherever we go.

Till next time,

Cheers,

Tom

So, I went to the cemetery yesterday with just my youngest. I was gonna bring flowers, then thought it’s to hot and they will die quick. Instead with both picked some small wild flowers growing in the grass and put them on the headstone. I started to explain to my 3yr about the whole process of why people go to cemeteries. She was just asking but why dada, but why? I told her that my mommie and sister are in the ground below us. She proceeds to start playing in the grass trying to see the dirt. Now some of you may see this as strange for me to explain to a 3 yr old about the whole process, but it’s really amazing how interested she was about it. She’s at the age that she wants to know things. Weather she understands or not, it will at least sink in one day.

We went about our visit of putting the flowers on the head stone and me showing her and telling her what names are on the headstone. We both sang “you are my sunshine”. I asked her if she wants to sing or say anything else and she proceeded to say “yes, I wanna sing God our father”. This was a prayer that she and her sister said during school before their day started. She went on to sing and of course had me tearing up. She went on putting more flowers on the headstone because they started blowing away in the wind. We said our good byes and got in the car. It was an experience in itself. I believe she at least knows that they are in heaven because she always reminds me when we talk about my mom and sister. Happy smiling, your loved ones are always with you.

Cheers ,

Tom

I have been looking forward to this trip for months. One of the main reasons is for the girls to see family and actually remember it all. They were 3 yrs old and 18 months the last time. It’s gonna be a blast watching them enjoy each day.

There are plenty of other reasons why I’m going to enjoy our trip. Being with family and friends, spending time with my wife on date nights etc. I also look forward to heading to the cemetery to visit my mom and sister grave. Deep down it really hurts that I can’t go as often as I did. I used to be able to go whenever I wanted. I used to go and just talk to them (even though I know they can both hear me at anytime 😉). I used to go and just sit in my car and think, how did I/we end up like this? Why did we end up like this? Everything happens for a reason… If my mom did not pass when I was so young I believe I wouldn’t be who I am today. If my sister didn’t pass when she was so young, I wouldn’t have what I have today. So I ll head there with my girls and hug them and I ll do what I always did. I’ll sing “you are my sunshine” to them and have a good cry and go about day. I’ll show my girls that it’s ok to be sad, even though I’m one of the happiest guys on the planet. I have excepted my life as it is now, without a Mom and sister. I ll continue to live my life knowing they are always around me. I’ll continue living my life knowing that I’m doing the best I can do, and sometimes asking myself (what would my mom do) in difficult situations. I ll keep on smiling.

As the title says “enjoying my life” which my original post was going to be about, I thought I would share with you what I did above. So I guess you ll get a 2 for 1 blog today haha.

My wife and I had a date night a few weeks ago. Friday night as been our date night since our town has a summer concert series. One Friday they had a Lynyrd Skynyrd tribute from a band called Tuesday’s Gone. What an awesome band, and great atmosphere. Skynyrd was one of my father in laws favorites. As the night went on and the music kept playing I kept thinking to myself and said “man Eddie would be having a blast” I could imagine him with a beer in his hand standing next to us doing his silly whole body dance without moving is feet (which only he could accomplish). I could imagine him singing along and smiling, just living it up. I teared up a bit just knowing he is physically missing out on enjoying all of this. Man It sucks, but I know he is with me doing that silly dance and although not drinking a beer, he’s knowing I’m enjoying myself and grieving in a good way remembering his great taste of music.

Cheers,

Tom

Happy Saturday peeps! You are probably wondering what’s up with the I donno? Well, I really don’t know. I have a hard time coming up with things to blog about without being repetitive. Maybe that is what blogs are supposed to be about? Are they? If you have read my blog already you know my story and where I have been (deep in darkness) to now in the happiest state of my life. But I still don’t think of a lot of things to blog about. This is one of the reasons why I contemplated getting rid of it in general. Then I created goodgrievings@gmail.com. So I went on with it. I signed up for another year of blogging! I want to keep going. I know my blog has reached others to help them. I know it has reached others that have been through similar situations that I have been through.

As you have read earlier I took time away cause everything I wrote about took a toll on me and brought back all the memories of my mom and sister. It was like a relieved it again, even though my purpose was to get my story out for others. It kinda backfired in a way. I came back after a while and turned my attention towards POSITIVITY! Straight up being positive towards almost everything I do. Don’t get me wrong, I have my days but for the most part everyday I am positive.

I follow @robdial and saw a video on his site that was talking about how each of us control the way we think. I saw the video at the perfect time. It automatically sunk in, and it’s absolutely true. YOU control your own mind and YOU control what YOU think. Check him out, he has some interesting videos that will make you think…. Anyway, if you are reading this maybe you can send me an email me of ideas of what I can blog about and how I can blog more often. It makes me feel good to know others read what I blog about and I wanna keep going with it.

Well I’m off to finish my Cawwwfe and hit the beach. Make it a great one!

Cheers,

Tom