Dear Blake, I saw another body

 

You and Crab in my favorite hiking spot

TW: Death

Dear Blake, 

It's 3:30 am. I can't sleep. 

I saw another body today. 

Can you believe I made it to 35, blessedly (if you will) never having seen a body? And now, just in the last two months, I have seen two. I skipped the viewing at every service when I was growing up. My father was cremated. 

After the first time I rescued a bird, gently pulling it's tiny, fragile legs from a glue trap, I found more injured birds. At a wildlife rehab, the woman told me I would find injured birds forever. They had marked me as someone who could be trusted. Is this how it will be with the recently deceased? I am not sure I am ready for the responsibility. 

But let me back up.

In/Visible Ties that Bind: Communities, Love, Hope

In/Visible Ties that Bind: Communities, Love, Hope

The last few weeks have been filled with struggle and loss and grief. But somehow, we persevere, and I owe my personal strength to the amazing communities I am visibly and invisibly a part of.

You all gave me strength enough to carry myself, to stave off falling into yet another cycle of depression, and to carry others.