by Leisa A. Hammett | Dec 15, 2011 | Divorce, Grief & Loss, Midlife and Beyond, Motherhood, Spirituality
Pandora played carols quietly in the background. Cider simmered wisps of cinnamon and clove into the atmosphere. With our fingers, we consumed chunks of warm, moist gingerbread. It had been about Christmastime last that we three had met like this. Only last time we...
by Leisa A. Hammett | Dec 7, 2011 | Divorce, Grief & Loss, Midlife and Beyond, Motherhood, Spirituality
Bite. Pull. Tear. Quickly: lick the juice before it streams a forearm's length. This morning I stood above my kitchen sink peeling an orange for breakfast. As I sloughed the thick rind, bearing the translucent juice-bursting slices, I thought of her. And when I...
by Leisa A. Hammett | Nov 24, 2011 | Art, Divorce, Grief & Loss, Nashville!, Nature, Spirituality, Travel
My sisters and I will be gathering for our first Thanksgiving as orphaned adult children. We will resume the tradition started by our father: When we sit down to the blessed feast steaming before us, we will go around the table, each of us sharing...
by Leisa A. Hammett | Nov 2, 2011 | Art, Autism/Disability, Divorce, Grief & Loss, H2H, Our Book, Midlife and Beyond, Motherhood, Nashville!, Spirituality
From a Facebook discussion on this "Journey with Grace" post: The Language of Loss: Putting Grief Into Words, featuring grief writing retreat leader/author Amy Lyles Wilson: "Grief is that which surpasses words…the deepest groans of our hearts....
by Leisa A. Hammett | Oct 28, 2011 | Art, Autism/Disability, Divorce, Grief & Loss, Midlife and Beyond, Nashville!, Spirituality
October days in Nashville can be surprisingly toasty but forthcoming winter breezes whisk away the humidity. It was such a day nearly eight years ago. I stood in line at an author's booth at our city's annual beloved and acclaimed Southern Festival of Books. I...
by Leisa A. Hammett | Oct 26, 2011 | Autism/Disability, Spirituality
"The Journey with Grace" featured mother-daughter "awetistics" Gayle Lee and Lyrica Marquez in June, 2011 when their beautiful coffee table book premiered in Nashville. I noshed on its' meaty contents all summer. And now so can you via the...
