I was at a book festival this past weekend. I met some authors from around the Southeast, as well as some lovely readers. I wanted to take today to welcome these newcomers to Michelle’s Mosaic. You will find I write about many topics as I process life. Feel free to browse around all the categories. My current content is an attempt to deal with the grief of losing both of my parents just a few months apart. I try to post a blog each week, but I am finding it difficult to put feelings into words at the moment, so there are fewer posts than usual. Please know, I am always writing, I just don’t always post, until it makes some sense that might be helpful to others.

If you picked up my card or our book this weekend it is likely because you are a caregiver, or you know one. Thank you for your interest in Navigating the Caregiver’s Journey. Please take a look on Amazon, Barnes and Noble or other book websites to see a sample. (Click on the cover to the right on this page and it will take you there.) My sister and I wrote this book for you…the caregiver. It is about how to take care of yourself while you are taking care of others.

Our goal is to get it into the hands of as many caregivers as we can. We know firsthand the journey is long and exhausting, both physically and emotionally. Please consider us your companions on your own caregiving path. We chose topics specifically because we needed them as our Mom declined with dementia over 7 years.

When our Dad died suddenly over one week we were stunned. He had a fall and sustained internal injuries he could not overcome. We are currently living within our grief sandwich…slow, heartbreaking, dull ache of Mom’s battle with dementia and fast, equally heartbreaking, sharp pain of Dad’s quick departure. Caregiving is not for the faint of heart!

For those of you who shared your own stories with me at the festival, thank you. You are brave. You are doing it. Hard as it is, you are stepping up, even when it hurts. Congratulations on that. It means more than you know to your loved one, even if they can’t say it.

For those who have gotten to the other side of the journey, I am sorry for your loss. Your stories touched my heart. I feel them deeply, because I have a hole in my heart as well. You and I, we did the caregiving. We were equally enriched and exhausted because of it. I pray for your broken heart as I walk through my own grief and look for healing. My book Words to the Weary might be of some help. (The link for it is on the right of this page, too.)

It was a pleasure to meet so many authors as well. I have all of your cards. I wish I could buy a book from every writer at festivals like this one. Instead, I collect cards and shop from my collection online whenever I need a new book to read. It is always an inspiration to meet so many authors and see all the beautiful books you have created. You are all amazing!

To those who bought our book, if you find it helpful, we ask that you pay it forward. Gift it to someone else you know who is in the thick of the caregiving journey and leave us a review on Amazon. Caregivers have to all stand together to hold one another up. If you are in a position to get it into the hands of families, please feel free to contact us about bulk ordering at a discounted rate.

If you find my writing touches your heart, you can subscribe to my blog here or on Substack. I look forward to staying connected!!

Update: For my regular readers, I am coming out like the sun in the springtime. Slowly, I am finding my way through the grief. It is an up and down journey. Some days I still don’t feel like doing anything but resting. Others, I am finding renewed energy to get out and move again. I am still engaged in creative activities, like pottery, that do not require words. I can pour my feelings into the clay and give them a spin. Ha! Some days, I sit in front of my screen waiting for the words to emerge onto the page. A few have begun to circle in my brain, but not much makes it to the page just yet. I am patient, though. I know this is part of the process. I am not afraid of grief. Just trying to get my footing in this new unfamiliar place in which I am living. Thanks for checking in and your concern for me. It means more than you know.