Author Archives: Deanna

I'm a creative problem solver, a student of life, and a teacher at heart. Over the years, I've come to realize that being a writer is more than what I do. It's who I am. The process of writing (which involves constant rewriting) has taught me to trust in myself, my intuition, and inner wisdom. After my son's death, writing gave me a reason to not give up but to keep going. In sharing my stories, I hope to inspire you, the reader, to find your reason to not give up but to keep going too.

sidewalks (3) a theather

2 minute read

finding treasure

Walking, connecting with nature,
picking up something meaningful,
a reminder of us when . . .
or evidence,
a clue—the idea of it,
in the smallest of things, a feather.
Exploring, searching, moving to keep going.
This meditative practice of mine, my morning ritual,
is when I see, in my reverie, how he saw the world.
And as I’m scanning the sidewalk and its edges,
rambling, drifting, daydreaming, thinking of him,
his sweet voice, his curious nature,
I come upon treasure then, a theather.

on reinventing

2 minute read

life

Every single one of us has a completely unique and deeply personal journey that we take on this thing we call life . . . Find the courage to take the wheel and steer it wherever your heart desires.
— Mel Robbins

FOR THE LAST FEW MONTHS, I’ve been feeling like I’m floundering, languishing. Sitting in the passenger’s seat (or some days, the backseat) staring at the weeds, at life, along the soft shoulder as they pass by; instead of taking the wheel, looking forward, and navigating from the driver’s seat.

on walking

1 minute read

walking on

In grief, all we can do is take notes and learn as we go, keep walking through the damage—talk and share and create as we speak—and stay at it, try to make something of it, our loss, and find new meaning in that.
(excerpt from Willower: Rewriting Life After Unimaginable Loss: Chapter 9. Migrating)

without imagination…

3 minute read

a private note

WHENEVER I READ a book, I always find my very own personal takeaway, a sentence or two that stands out to me, seemingly as if the writer meant the message just for me—like a private note. The author may not have even meant for that particular line or two to be one of the story’s takeaways, and therein lies the magic (of words, and reading books).

grieving is hard work

1 minute read

a grief note

Grieving, like writing, is hard work, done mostly in solitude.
Continue reading “grieving is hard work”

sidewalks (2) luna moth

2 minute read

pieces of treasure

LAST WEEK’S POST, sidewalks (1), was the first in what I’m hoping will be a series of short posts (if I can stick to my plan). You don’t have to read sidewalks (1), or look for my upcoming sidewalk posts (each Wednesday), but . . . I really hope you do.

sidewalks (1)

4 minute read

all the sidewalks

The word sidewalk appears thirty times in my book Willower.

The line I love you more than all the sidewalks in the world appears nine times.

The first time I heard this was when Sam, as a toddler, said it to me. It stayed with me. It was a funny thing to hear, an unusual measurement to use—sidewalks? But then, the sidewalk was our world; where we spent most of our time collecting acorns, bugs, sticks, stones . . .

lipstick

4 minute read

graped-up

It’s the little things.

SOMETIMES, it’s the littlest, most ridiculous, almost unnoticeable things that help me to keep going:

receiving an unexpected text from an old friend;

watching a tiny lizard lapping water from a drop on the patio floor;

finding that perfect shade of lip color.

recognition, a nice nudge

2 minute read

Breaking news!

Today, I just learned my book Willower is a National Indie Excellence Awards Finalist (Grief category).

Joe D.

4 minute read

finding treasure

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life

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walking on

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a private note

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a grief note

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pieces of treasure

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all the sidewalks

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graped-up

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Breaking news!

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it was April 30, 2008, the one-year anniversary of his brother’s death

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