dying Archives - Soft In Hard Places

Just Breathe

LisaPullenKent — Tue, 17 Mar 2020 19:47:33 +0000

Re-posted from March 6, 2014 “I took a deep breath and listened to the old brag of my heart.I am, I am, I am.” Sylvia Plath There’s a stillness that descends on the hospital late at night, softening the harshness … Continue reading →

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And So This Is Christmas … Let The Grief In

LisaPullenKent — Thu, 31 Dec 2015 00:45:18 +0000

It’s late December, only days to Christmas. The kids are out of school and it’s dark already at 4:30 pm. All the lights burn in the kitchen where my husband is busy making sugar cookies with our girls. Flour dusts … Continue reading →

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Exquisite Grief

LisaPullenKent — Wed, 16 Sep 2015 22:06:54 +0000

I knew she'd stay close, that we would feel her; I didn't know she would come to me when I was exhausted and spent, in the dream-like trance of half-sleep, and spread comfort like warmth through my chest, or when I was quiet and contemplative, in a cool breeze, gently caressing my face and answering my question, "Is that you, Mom?" Continue reading →

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Eulogy To My Mother

LisaPullenKent — Mon, 24 Aug 2015 01:23:16 +0000

When she shall die,Take her and cut her out in little stars,And she will make the face of heaven so fineThat all the world will be in love with nightAnd pay no worship to the garish sun. William Shakespeare Patricia … Continue reading →

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In Her Image

LisaPullenKent — Sat, 01 Aug 2015 02:00:43 +0000

Sometimes I feel like a motherless childSometimes I feel like a motherless childSometimes I feel like a motherless childA long way from home African-American Spiritual I’m going to lose my mother. It’s an inevitability I never used to think about. … Continue reading →

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Making Tear Soup

LisaPullenKent — Thu, 28 Nov 2013 15:34:08 +0000

“Are you going to Colorado tomorrow, Mom?” Sydney stands in front of the refrigerator and asks the question for the third time this morning. “No, honey. Two weeks, remember? In two weeks.” I gently nudge her out of the way … Continue reading →

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The Only Way Out is Through

LisaPullenKent — Mon, 30 Sep 2013 05:29:01 +0000

Grief lives in our house. Among the furniture, between the windows and the walls, it sits, thick and unmoving. Grief rides heavy on my chest. I can’t get a good, deep breath these days. It weighs down my husband’s shoulders and molds his features. Grief seeps into our nights of restless sleep and dreams of forgetting, of waking, and then remembering. Continue reading →

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Give and Take

LisaPullenKent — Wed, 04 Sep 2013 00:44:52 +0000

You are my love and my life. You are my inspiration. Just you and me. Simple and free. Baby, you’re everything I’ve ever dreamed of. Just You And Me by Chicago “Al, I need ice.” With a white … Continue reading →

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In the Love Place

LisaPullenKent — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 03:41:46 +0000

And so lying underneath those stormy skies She’d say, oh, I know the sun must set to rise. Paradise by Coldplay ~For Richard, Heidi and Gabriel~ It was Sunday afternoon. The weekend that seemed to stretch out enticingly before me … Continue reading →

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