Hope | Along the Broken Road

From Ashes to Beauty

November 2, 2018 by Maeghan Garcia

You were never supposed to happen to me. This is a love that was not part of my plan. But then life happened the way it did. It shattered. Into a million jagged pieces on the floor. Fragments of broken dreams that could never fit back together the way they once did. And they don’t. But that’s the point. Somehow you helped me revive the remnants of my heart, by intertwining them with yours. You gave me the courage to […]

Categories: Grief, Healing, Hope, Marriage, Relationships • Tags: life after loss, love after loss, moving forward, new beginnings

A Love Without Limits

September 27, 2018 by Maeghan Garcia

Mason is finally asleep and I am very uncomfortably lying next to him in his Lightning McQueen bed. What a challenge bedtime was tonight! He is currently obsessed with legos and was building a firetruck with Vinnie as I told him it was time to go potty and then night-night. He threw a huge tantrum because there was one tiny little piece missing and he didn’t want to leave the truck unfinished. We tried reasoning with him and explaining it […]

Categories: Grief, Grief Support, Healing, Hope, Loss, Motherhood, Parenting • Tags: Motherhood, Parenting

A Perpetual Work in Progress

August 15, 2017 by Maeghan Garcia

Judgment: we are all guilty of it and we’ve all fallen victim to it at some point or another. Why? Unfortunately it seems that it’s part of our human nature to assume, to jump to conclusions, to believe we know about something that we actually don’t understand. Even before I lost Ralf, I suffered from some minor anxiety. I would easily stress over things that I realize now were pretty silly. When I remember planning the wedding – OH MY […]

Categories: Anxiety, Bereavement, Grief, Hope, Inspiration • Tags: life after loss, moving forward, perspective

Messages from Beyond

August 1, 2017 by Maeghan Garcia

I often reminisce about conversations that Ralf and I shared. That was one of my favorite things about our relationship – the way we could chat for hours on end about virtually anything – ranging from silly and irrelevant to profoundly deep. Memories of those heart-to-heart exchanges are a great source of comfort and peace for me now. We spoke about death numerous times, perhaps because of the nature of his career, or maybe because somewhere deep inside, our subconscious […]

Categories: Bereavement, Grief, Hope, Inspiration • Tags: life after loss, moving forward, perspective

My Expanded Heart

July 14, 2017 by Maeghan Garcia

I met Ralf just a few months before my 18th birthday. Even with as young as we were at the time, I knew very early on in our relationship that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him. We instantly shared a very special connection that was apparent to our family and closest friends. Alike in so many ways, to the point that some friends would jokingly say we were the “same person” – just in male […]

Categories: Bereavement, Grief, Grief Support, Hope, Widowhood • Tags: life after loss, love after loss, moving forward

Silencing Negativity

July 9, 2017 by Maeghan Garcia

A few weeks ago, I conquered a fear. I crossed something off of my bucket list. I put all of my excuses aside and proved to myself that I could do something I believed I would never have the courage to do. And guess what? It felt damn GOOD! For years, many friends and family members had been trying to convince me to audition for The Voice. I always found so many reasons not to. All of my former excuses […]

Categories: Grief, Grief and Loss, Grief Support, Hope, Widow • Tags: life after loss, moving forward

To My Widowed Sister

April 24, 2017 by Maeghan Garcia

Just a couple of months ago, I had a fellow widow reach out to me. On January 17th of this year, she unwillingly and involuntarily entered into this lifelong club of young women who lost their husbands long before they were supposed to – before having the opportunity to share a lifetime of memories with them, of building a family, of growing old together. She told me that she’d come across my blog and thanked me because my story gave […]

Categories: Bereavement, Grief, Grief Support, Hope • Tags: life after loss, moving forward, widows

A New Dance

April 2, 2017 by Maeghan Garcia

This weekend, I reached another milestone since Ralf passed away: I attended a wedding. Well, almost – we decided it would be best to skip the ceremony and head directly to the reception. There was some anxiety leading up to it since I knew it would be just one week after the anniversary of Ralf’s death, and the end of what’s been a very emotional month for me. Vinnie and I talked about it a lot. We decided to RSVP […]

Categories: Bereavement, gratitude, Grief, Grief Support, Hope, Inspiration, perspective • Tags: life after loss, moving forward

Twice Blessed

February 2, 2017 by Maeghan Garcia

I was 28 years old and 7 months pregnant with my first child when my entire world collapsed. It was a time that should have been joyous and filled with nesting and baby shower celebrations and a family photo shoot featuring my enormous belly. Instead, I had to bury my high school sweetheart and husband of barely 3 years. He was my same age when a brain tumor detected just 10 days earlier took his life. There were no symptoms leading […]

Categories: Bereavement, Grief, Grief Support, Hope, Inspiration • Tags: life after loss, love after loss, moving forward