Truth #1:
My cat, Lady Dianna, died last week.
Luckily, we had an amazing last day with her that was filled with a lot of love and cuddles. I knew saying goodbye to Lady Dianna, who loved my kid as if he was her own, would never be easy.
And it hasn’t been.
Me, my menfolk and our other cat, Miss Violet, are wandering around looking like we’re a little lost.
Which is to be expected when you say goodbye to one of your best friends.
But it’s hard to feel completely lost when we’re surrounded by so many wonderful memories of her, too.
Of course I’ve sobbed, loudly and unapologetically, into my kitchen sink when I washed Dianna’s food dishes for the very last time.
Then, I remembered the time Dianna pounced on a piece of my husband’s toast he had slathered with strawberry jam. She dove in and then, according to my husband, fought him when he tried to take it from her! I howled when he told me what had happened. Imagine an over-six-foot-tall man, hunched over with his hands on his thighs, gasping because he’s trying to catch his breath while he’s describing the great “battle” he’s just had with your eight-pound cat over a piece of jammy toast.
I found so many sticky bits in Dianna’s fur, for days afterwards. (It earned her the nickname of Jammy Jam. A term of endearment that celebrated a moment when she went after what she wanted!)
So, I went from crying into the sink while I washed her dishes to leaning over it, trying to hold myself upright because I was laughing so hard I hurt myself.
The waves of emotions can come hard and fast.
These are my days now.
(Yours too?)
Truth #2
I’m a guest on another podcast!
You’ll find me on episode #92 of Rachel Thompson’s Write, Publish, & Shine. It’s part of the writing with disabilities and limitations series that’s currently airing.
In this episode I:
Talk about the conflicted relationship I have with some identity labels.
(Not so fun fact: I wouldn’t share this episode with you when it first went live last week because it was given a title that ignored some important facts I shared in the episode. For someone who doesn’t appreciate feeling dismissed or ignored, I had to deal with some major feels that bubbled up because of that fuck up. Thankfully, I received an apology and changes to the title were quickly published. I’m ok with the title now, so please enjoy. But also know that I am no longer a member of this membership group.)
Natter on about noticing and expanding joy in my writing, and in life, while I live with a chronic illness.
Share more about visual journaling.
(Reminder: My course, Exploring Creative Connection Through Visual Journaling is retiring on May 15, 2024.)
Read aloud my story that was nominated for The Pushcart Prize.
Offer some guidance about dealing with feedback, no matter if it’s positive, negative, or even unsolicited.
As Rachel states near the beginning of the episode, “Listen in to hear from a writer who does things their way. Someone I deeply admire for this spirit.”
Spoiler alert:
I’m THAT writer!
But I’m also the writer who was really nervous leading up to and while we were recording the podcast.
The kind of nervous that made my hands shake. The kind of nervous that made me forget how to take a deep breath for extended periods of time. The kind of nervous that made me begin to regret ever saying yes to being a guest.
Sure, my cat, Dianna, was still alive when we recorded the podcast, but she had only recently returned from an emergency vet visit, so I was already feeling a little unsettled.
But I realized, or maybe I just remembered, that this kind of nervousness shows up when I’m excited to talk about something I really love.
And one thing I really love right now is writing.
So, if anything I’ve shared has made you curious to hear more, click here to have a listen.
I hope you enjoy it.
Thank you for reading all the way to the (almost) end. I appreciate you taking the time to do so.
PS. Season four of True Detective (HBO) is thrilling! It’s the best season of the whole series. So, I’m excited to see what season five will look like now that Issa Lopez is confirmed to be returning to the helm. Someone else was in charge of all of the previous seasons. But I wasn’t wowed by season one, and I couldn’t watch more than the first episode of season two or season three.