Angled light makes it way quietly across the hardwood floors in my bedroom. I am still heavy with sleep when I hear the fluttering of wings and the low cooing of a Mourning dove building a nest on my balcony. We sleep with the windows open. Cool air sashays in, gently beckoning me to arise, to enjoy just a few minutes of quiet, before my kids [...] Keep Reading
Navigating Grief
When Hope is just around the bend
The other day we made turkey-and-cheese sandwiches on sourdough bread and packed oranges and a plate of cookies my friend made into a cooler bag. We piled the five of us into our royal blue truck and went for a drive. Some local friends recently posted pictures on Facebook of a beautiful lake they found about an hour from our house, and I had to [...] Keep Reading
Dear Vanessa Bryant,
The following is a letter originally posted on my Instagram @DorinaGilmore on January 28, 2020. I wrote this letter while flying home from a funeral in Texas after hearing the devastating news about Kobe and Gianna Bryant and 7 others who were killed in a helicopter accident. Although I don't know them personally, my widow-mama heart grieved [...] Keep Reading
The dance of grief and glory through the holidays
I still remember our first Thanksgiving after my husband Ericlee died. My family tried to hold it together. We tried to stay the course with certain traditions, but it was clear everything was off-kilter. He wasn’t there to run the Turkey Trot. He wasn’t wearing his silly apron in the kitchen, helping me chop the butternut squash for the soup. [...] Keep Reading
Pivoting Away from Jealousy Toward Abundance
When I was a newly-minted widow, I started to struggle with envy. In those early days of grief, it was excruciatingly hard for me to see all the summer vacation photos with daddies playing with their kids, the wedding anniversary celebrations, and the perfectly-crafted family Christmas pictures. Feelings rose up inside me that I never faced before. [...] Keep Reading
6 Ways to Find God’s Peace in Difficult Circumstances
Ever since I was a little girl, I have loved the hymn “It Is Well.” There was something about those lyrics that brought a sense of peace whenever I sang them: “When peace like a river, attendeth my way… It is well, it is well, with my soul.” Horatio G. Spafford, the man who penned that hymn, experienced profound tragedy with the death of his son [...] Keep Reading
