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I went to a funeral today. My artist godfather had painted the entire coffin of his wife, vibrantly, with hearts and birds and colours. The thought of him painting it, the expression of his love to his partner of 33 years, using the same motifs he used to paint their wedding altar, it makes me want to think of ways to show love, to mark it. Both while my loved ones are still living, and to honour those now gone. How do we honour our love? Dedicate time to it? Make our grief a beautiful masterpiece of love?
Jun 17, 2024
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My nana died recently and the funeral was probably the best day out of a terrible few weeks
I enjoyed the (sometimes farcical) performance of the Catholic ceremony, which was so disconnected from her life and personhood that you kind of had to laugh (i did this inwardly only). The priest got my granddad’s name wrong in the reading and half-sang along to the hymns as he performed the rites, the way you do when you’re listening to music while pottering about the house
I talked with family I hadn’t seen in years, or had seen and pretty much ignored because it felt easier at the time
I enjoyed noticing how there are maybe two different kinds of nose and mouth distributed among the cousins (myself included), except one girl I was convinced was a relative on the strength of her appearance turned out not to be, so maybe I was just looking for shared qualities where there aren’t any. I don’t think that is a bad thing though
Nov 4, 2024
my mom passed away last year, and today would have been her 54th birthday
so, i grabbed ice cream and i took it to the river. my mom and i used to get ice cream and eat it by the river a lot. my mom loved ice cream. chocolate ice cream. and she loved rivers. i also love rivers. they remind me of my mom.
grieving is hard. and it’s hard every single day. but taking moments like this — to do things that my mom and i loved to do together — reminds me of how grief is just love with nowhere to go.
today i’m basking in the love that my mom had for me, the love she had for ice cream, for rivers. and i’m sitting in how much i love her. a love that feels trapped inside me. buried. most days it feels like anger and despair and regret. but today i’m focusing on the love. how lucky i was to have a mom who made loving her so easy!
happy birthday, mom. i love you immensely
Feb 7, 2025
Back in February, I lost my friend and coworker, Paul. He was the first person to pass that I had spent almost every day with for years. The ironic part was the morning i found out, I had just been thanking the universe that I never had to go through that pain. An hour later I found out he was gone.
Paul was very special, a one of a kind guy who built a life for himself through his love for art and music. He was an old school punk who was in a few bands back in the 90’s that helped shape the local music scene (Poo Poo Stick and Rotten Gramma). He started the tattoo shop I work at back in 2004 in the hopes of taking in good people who just needed a chance to show their skills. It’s been voted the best shop in the area by locals every year since ~2010. He loved Star Wars and Radiohead, loved doing my dumb skits for the shop’s social media, and had an affinity for butts unlike any other man I’ve ever met. In between tattoos, he would sit on the couch and we would just talk for hours. i still think I see him sometimes when I’m turning the corner when I come into the shop sometimes.
We just started cleaning out his tattoo station, and well.. it hasn’t been easy for any of us. Neither has having to tell people over the phone that he has passed away nearly weekly, and then having to continue on with my day like normal.
This afternoon was especially hard for me, so I figured I’d share the love with you folks so more of the world can know how cool this guy was.
Apr 10, 2025
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May 18, 2025
I am by no means traditionally religious, but I fully understand how being in the presence of beautiful stained glass can feel like being with god. ALWAYS stop off at a church on the way if you think it might have good stained glass. The bluebells in the bottom right corner of this made me loose my breath for a moment.
Apr 24, 2025
Apr 14, 2025