A Year Without

Remembering my mother-in-law

Anna’s mom, Charlotte, passed away on February 19, 2025—one year ago today.

A sad day calls for a sad comic. I’m sure there are more creative or expressive ways to show our feelings, but simple felt right today.

A lot has changed in the past year, and we’re healing, of course. But grief still lingers in little places.

Recipes that used to feed us for two nights now last three. When we change the soap in the bathroom, we remember the little sayings and songs she had for each scent.

We traveled for the first time in six years, but gift shops were filled with things we would have bought for Charlotte. We took photos only to remember we wouldn’t get to show them to her.

We’re still going through Charlotte’s things, finding little emotional landmines tucked in unexpected places. What looks like a box of junk might have a poem, or a keepsake, or a photo buried under the clutter.

We’re moving slowly, but we’re moving. Charlotte wouldn’t want us to just sit around and mope.

But for today, we’re going to let ourselves remember and be sad.

In other news...

It’s been a real up-and-down week here! A couple days ago I posted the prologue to Peggy’s adventure story, and I’m so excited to finally share part of that project. There’s much more to come!

If you subscribe to this newsletter, you should have also received the Peggy post. If not, you can find it here:

Hope you have a good and creative week!