Pictures in Wood by Lorie

05/27/2025

09/27/2023

Fan submission 🥰

09/02/2023

Found in Florida! So one of the owners of a hotel, Judi was walking on the beach this morning cleaning up the junk that washed into shore and finds a bottle with a message in it. There is also some sand and 2 one dollar bills. Once we get it open and read the notes we find out that it is in fact NOT sand. It is the ashes of this woman's husband of 70 years named Gordon. She writes that He loved to travel so she sent him traveling in a bottle with a note and money for someone to call home and tell her where he landed. He started at Big Pine Key in March of 2012 and then went to Islamorada where someone found him. ❤
They added a note and sent him traveling again and he landed on our beach in Key Colony. Judi called the wife in Tennessee who was excited to know of Gordon's travels! Judi added her note, we put him in a rum bottle (you know added a little fun to his trip) with the three notes. We added another dollar in case Gordon travels far and a long distance call is needed. We will be having a memorial service or celebration of his life on our beach later today before sending him on his way again." 🥰🥰😋😋
Credit: Allex1337

08/12/2023

When you lose a part of your heart when a loved one dies, know that that grief will never go away.
That's not a bad thing.
It's not a weakness.
It simply means you've experienced something that we all hope for and want in this life...
love.

©Tara Shannon

07/30/2023

Look for me

I'm here

in the glint of your eyes
and the lilt of your laugh

Close your eyes
there I am
where the lights glow
soft and warm

In the quiet moments
where your thoughts
drift

And in your dreams
late
late
at night

Look for me

In those moments
when you think you're alone
and you take a deep breath

and wonder

"Where have you gone?"

I'm here
by your side
holding your hand
loving you as I always have
and will

forever more

©Tara Shannon, 2021

***

“When we die,” asked Rabbit, “where do we go?”
“Into the hearts of those who have loved us most.” said Bear. “That way we’re together forever.”

©Tara Shannon

05/28/2023

"Am I broken?" asked Rabbit.
"No," said Bear. "You're healing. Healing can be messy and it takes time. Sometimes it might feel like you're broken but that's just a rough edge being soothed as it grows and fits into a new place."

©️Tara Shannon, 2023
❤️

05/17/2023

I held a party the other week and grief came.
She wasn’t invited but she came anyway - barged her way in through the door and settled down like she was here to stay.

And then she introduced me to the friends she’d brought with her - Anger. Fear. Frustration. Guilt. Hopelessness.

And they sang in the loudest voices, took up space in every corner of the room and spoke over anyone else that tried to talk.

They made it messy and loud and uncomfortable.

But finally, they left.

And long afterwards, when I was all alone,
I realised there was still someone here.
Quietly clearing up after the rest.

I asked who she was and she told me, “Love.”

And I assumed that’s why she looked familiar - because I had met her before.

“Or perhaps,” she said, “it’s because I’ve been here the whole time.”

And I was confused then because I hadn’t seen her all evening.
But when I looked more closely,
when I looked into her eyes,

I realised quietly that she had been here.
All the time.

She’d just been dressed as grief.

*****

Becky Hemsley 2023

Sometimes it helps to remember that underneath our grief, there is love. It was there before, it’s there now and it will still be there afterwards.
Love endures like nothing else can.

‘Afterparty’ is from the book When I Am Gone
https://a.co/d/35WJcRh