Brave Enough To Be Bliss

I tested positive for

Covid last week, but I didn’t even mind it. Forced me to stay upstairs, in my room, in my jammies, in the

peace & quiet, solo, and just cry & sleep. At some point I woke up to a beautiful bouquet of flowers from Eden.

I know

they were from you, but they also felt like a sweet little message from her.

Thank you.

My text reply to Angie shortly after… I just try to listen to my heart, and it helps me get a glimpse of others’ hearts. While I’m sorry you’ve been sick, I too am glad you had this forced time to be still and just feel. I was hoping the flowers would feel that way. You’re quite welcome. I wish th ere was something more that could be done to ease your pain, but just wanted y ou to you’re in my heart and thoughts and prayers. Keep taking good care of you in all ways!! When I sent Angie the draft chapter so she could decide if I could use her real name or if she wanted me to use a pseudonym, she responded with this. I was fearful that’s how she would feel about the first part, so my response to her is below that, but I felt like the next two paragraphs of her response were also worth sharing in the book. This is the way I like to live life: including others, seeing what we can learn from and teach each other, and most of all, love on each other. L ife…is…much…too…damn…hard to go through it with the things we make up in our minds that keep us apart, instead of coming together as real, flawed people. We are always so much better together. Reading that though, I feel so terrible for not coming over & sitting with you at my Mom’s service. You drove so far, had jus t had your knee surgery I believe…not even sure if you were supposed to be driving just yet, and I never made it over there. I hope you know how much that & you mean/meant to me!!! And I also feel a tremendous amount of guilt because I still have not written one single thank you note & you ALWAYS have the most thoughtful gifts & words & I just think you are soooo amazing & you mean the world to me!!! (Ginger Bliss response to that part of the email: Thank you for the email and please do not feel terrible AT ALL! I was fearing you would go there. I had to write it in a way that other people would see how we can talk ourselves out of doing hard things or tell ourselves it won’t matter to the other person because WE are scared of doing hard things. You were doing EXACTLY what you needed to be doing my dear friend. You didn’t need to do or say or take care of anyone but YOU that day especially. And pleas e let the guilt go as no one expects anything. Sometimes it is therapeutic for people to go through an acknowledgment process to remind themselves they are not alone and how many people care for them. But anyone who sends you something after a loss is only wa nting to support you not add to your load by expecting a note back (and you know I’m one who believes in and loves notes, but not in response to sympathy unless that is a desire…it shouldn’t be a “have to” on top of everything else a grieving pers on is going through). Please, please let that go as the guilt serves no healthy purpose. If at some point you want to tell someone something, tell them even if it’s been five years since your mom’s passing. And frankly it would likely mean more to the giver to know even then that their outreach was something you still remember. ❤️ But trust me, no one is thinking about a thank you note for a grief gift, truly. And if they are, that’s their issue completely. ❤️ Perhaps my favorite sentence in the book… Someone else’s behavior toward you or their lack of love and care for you is always about their unhealed hurts…yours is about what leads you to believe their behavior is about you. Ponder that for a bit with this scenario if anyone would be twisted up about not being acknowledged for sending flowers after your mom’s passing. And then hopefully you will let the guilt go. ) And I remember you sending me that song, I remember being in a complete fog, honestly, I still feel that way. I am learning how to navigate this new-to- me feeling of grief….at the time when I listened, I didn’t go to church, but yes, you’re right, I’ve bee n curious for a while. Tallon & I started going in October because they just built a brand-new church down the street from our house. We LOVE it!!! And I often go by myself!! And on the topic of fear, I’ve always wanted to tell you that one of the first things I can remember about you is you asking if I’d feel comfortable cutting your friend’s hair & I told you I didn’t cut ethnic hair. And you wouldn’t take no for an answer, haha! Said you believed in me, I could totally do it, and I remember you telling me your friend was a CEO & I was like “ohhh, definitely not doing it!” Lol! And you were like “why?” & I said it would be too intimidating, made me nervous, I don’t know people like that (I mean, I was a baby, lol) and I’ll never forget it! You said “he’s just a person, just like you & I. People are just people!” I have never e ver forgotten that and have reminded myself that a million times now in my lifetime, AND remind my kiddos, and you were SO right!!! He is totally just a person, has stuff going on just like all of us. And now I have many clients just like him, and I treat them all the same, because you taught me people are just people! From: Angie To: Ginger Bliss Tue, Apr 9, 2024 at 1:04 PM

The following experience is proof that Angie has tapped into her soul in an amazing way.

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