Unexpected loss – Red Tent Living

All That Matters Is Life

By: redtentwomen January 4, 2023January 3, 2023

Faith, Monthly Themes, relationshipsAnxiety, Christy Bauman, crisis, Life, Prayer, Unexpected loss, Wednesday in the Weeds2 Comments

“He is gone.” My sister’s text startles me, and I sit up in bed. At first, I am confused and think she means her son is at school so that we can talk. I call her, and I know she is not okay from her voice. I realize she meant her son is missing. My…

Good Morning, Sister

By: redtentwomen November 25, 2022October 19, 2022

Intentional Living, Monthly Themes, relationshipsFamily Relationships, Intentional Living, Jill English, sisterhood, Sisters, Unexpected loss7 Comments

My sister died a few months ago at the end of May. It was morning. She had been sitting in her chair, in her pajamas, and it seems, she simply passed. She had been having pain issues due to a recent series of falls. Even so, her death was unexpected. She was 59 years old. Truth be…

For Natasha

By: redtentwomen October 26, 2022October 26, 2022

Intentional Living, relationships, WarriorCelebration, Eliza Cortes Bast, Grief, Natasha Stevens, Unexpected loss, Wednesday in the WeedsLeave a Comment

This is not a eulogy. This is a wild ce-le-bra-tion. Lived out in staccato, fast breaths and clapped hands. This is a reverie of light that actively stomped the darkness. She was a determined, defiant dance. This is ce-le-bra-tion. She was coffee and cocoa-bean, sugar cane and deep earth. Caribbean and cradle of civilization. She was…

Hard News

By: redtentwomen August 17, 2022August 13, 2022

Day to Day, Monthly Themes, relationshipsBoth/And, Grief, Hope, Susan Tucker, Unexpected loss, Wednesday in the Weeds4 Comments

I sit on the airplane, wedged between Tim, my husband, and Reed, my younger son. Seth, my older son, sits just across the narrow aisle. The flight attendant moves down the aisle closing the overhead baggage compartments, signaling that boarding is over and our departure is at hand. I pull my AirPods out of my…

Growing in the Gray

By: redtentwomen October 20, 2021October 7, 2021

Day to Day, Faith, Intentional Living, Monthly ThemesLyndsey Ribble, Pandemic, Unexpected Adjustments, Unexpected loss, Wednesday in the Weeds, Wilderness1 Comment

The wilderness. That is where it feels like I am, especially lately. The wife of a dear friend I have known for 20 years passed away this week. She was in her late 30s. They have an 8-week-old daughter, their first and now only. Cancer took her within a month of her diagnosis. Two of…

Turning Toward Hope

By: redtentwomen May 28, 2021May 26, 2021

Faith, Intentional Living, Monthly Themes, relationshipsDeath, Grief, staying present in grief, Susan Tucker, Unexpected loss, Vulnerabilty2 Comments

I’m standing in front of my closet, swapping heavy, dark winter wear for the brighter, lighter garments of spring. When the annual exchange is complete, I begin to look through a neighboring rack of dresses, nearly untouched during the last year spent largely at home. I pass by one, two, three black dresses before I…