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Summerside, PE
902-439-4562

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friday i'm in love...

November 14, 2025 Arlene Giddings

the truth is
i have had a hard time
doing a
friday i’m in love
since mom…

it feels wrong
and i know that’s wrong,
i know the whole
she would want you to be happy,
she would want, she wouldn’t want…

but i also
can’t help feeling
how i feel.

grief is a like a ball
you have to carry
and it’s covered in
bits of sharp razor
and shards of glass
but also wrapped in
feathers and soft bits of fluff
so you don’t know where sharp parts are
and it’s sticky and slippery
and so heavy
it’s hard to carry some days
and other days,
it feels lighter but
you know that’s not going to last
and you are trying to carry
it quietly and act like a normal person
but then you realize
someone has stuffed it full of
jingly jangly bells
or now it is suddenly randomly
screeching like a car alarm
and
you
don’t
know
how to
make it
stop
and you are afraid everyone is looking you,
at the person who can’t control her grief,
who can’t be quiet about it,
who can’t let go of it,
but also when it’s quiet,
you are afraid people think you
stopped caring…stopped hurting…

it’s such a strange place.
i can’t say i like it here.

But at the same time…
I know that I have to
do the things I have always done…
maybe especially on the days I don’t feel like it.

So here are a few things I have loved:

♥ sticker books. I found some older ones that I just realized have stickers in them that I can use in my journals which has now made me look for sticker books whenever I go to the dollar store and I can’t tell you how happy it makes me.

♥ craft fairs with best friends…this has made me so happy…and I got these adorable Grinch decorations!

♥ also at craft fairs…Tide and Tallow…I am OBSESSED.
i LOVE the face tallow, the body butters, the facial oils…
the scents are to die for and my skin feels so soft and happy.

also can I have this sauna please?

I hope you have a happy Friday…
and if you are carrying something heavy,
I hope you are finding the feathery parts
and not the razors.
♥

In friday i'm in love, words Tags my mom, mom and dad, grief sucks, friday
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the truth is...

August 19, 2025 Arlene Giddings

I feel lost in the land of in-between.
I am trying to make sense
of life without my mom…
while still processing life without my dad…

The strange thing about loss…
loss so big and gaping and bloody
that sometimes
I feel like my insides
must be on the outside,
that I must be dragging my
broken cracked heart behind me
by a vein…
there is no way all of this is happening
inside of me…
but the strange thing is
regular life keeps moving.

And you have to, too.

And you know this…you know you do.
You know why you know?
Because after dad, your mom sat you down
and said “you have to get back out there,
you have to go on adventures, you have to do silly things,
dad wouldn’t want this, dad loved your adventures.”

So I did.
Even when my heart wasn’t in it, I did it
because I didn’t want mom to worry about me.

But there is no one here now to tell me that now.
No one that I would listen to.
The logical side of my brain tells me
what mom would say
but the illogical side of my brain is louder
right now. It won’t always be.
But right now, it’s winning.

All this to say, that I am going to try.
To accept joy, to find my spark,
to live the life I have left
with wonder and excitement and silliness
alongside the memories and the
moments of heartbreaking sadness/loneliness/grief…
I will try…so mom doesn’t worry about me.

In tuesday truths, we are family, words Tags mom, my mom, mom and dad, words, grief sucks, thinking out loud
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sundays

August 17, 2025 Arlene Giddings

the truth is
sundays
will now always be
the hardest
of the days.
not only because
we lost you on a
sunday
but
because
sundays
were always
"out home"
days…
mom and dad days…
and then just mom days
and now…
i don’t know what to
do
with myself
on sundays…
the hardest of the days.

In words, we are family Tags my mom, mom and dad, grief sucks, words
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48 years...

August 30, 2017 Arlene Giddings

48 years ago today
my parents
walked down the aisle
and
everything that followed
has forever
shaped my life.

when i was kid
i thought
i wanted
to live in new york
to go to all the parties and concerts and be a rock star (or an astronaut)...
to drive a purple fiaro
and follow billy idol
around the world...

i know now
that what i really
always wanted
is a marriage
just like my parents.

they fit together.

she tones down his crazy
finger snapping whistling antsy kind of ways
in a way no one else can.
and he makes her laugh
at least 5 times a day...
usually without even trying to.

they taught me so many things...
without ever saying
"here are the things that you need to learn about love...pay attention"

  • don't ever, ever call each other names in anger.  no matter what. ever.
  • listen to each other's stories...yeah...maybe you don't know what the other person is talking about when they explaining a timing belt or venting about cranky customers but still...listen.
  • things always look better in the morning.
  • money is not the important thing. 
  • if someone judges you on your clothes or your car or your house, you don't want to be friends with them anyway. 
  • laugh.  in my family, teasing and sarcasm mean hey...we like you.  telling embarrassing funny stories about you...repeatedly...well...we obviously LOVE you.  it's how we show affection.
  • be proud of who you are.  be interesting.  be kind.  be resourceful.  be creative.  be original.  be you.

happy 48 years, mom and dad....
you make it look easy.
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
 

In 2017, grateful, we are family Tags mom and dad, married life, life goals, these two, cutest couple ever
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