Penny Sue, the contrast between the newborn portraits and the bathroom-mirror selfie is heartbreaking because it shows how easily a family image can preserve beauty while hiding what the moment actually cost. I appreciate the honesty with which you name the exhaustion, the desperate back-peddling, the loneliness, and the ache of needing comfort when emotional availability was not there in the way you needed it. Philbin’s “substitute embrace” says so much without overexplaining, because sometimes an object becomes a witness to the tenderness a person was too depleted or unable to offer. Thank you for writing with such plain courage about the distance between what a picture can show and what a heart was carrying just outside the frame.
This shows how easily things can fall apart without a man being emotionally available in a relationship. I'm so sorry you had to go through this. And finally thank you for sharing your Playlist, I've saved.
Ah greg—I sigh, with a single tear accumulating at the edge of my right eye—It’s too late.
Please don’t delete your comment, your good advice.
There’s always so much hesitancy about what to say or not say around the grieving and when you don’t know someone’s whole story, it’s easy to say the wrong thing.
Sometimes the wrong thing is the right thing. We just don’t want to hear it. (Sometimes the wrong thing is the wrong thing too. Ha ha. Don’t get me wrong.)
After all, grief is about acceptance.
And grief is about hope.
Next time I see Robben, there will be no more emotional paper cutting.
Penny Sue, the contrast between the newborn portraits and the bathroom-mirror selfie is heartbreaking because it shows how easily a family image can preserve beauty while hiding what the moment actually cost. I appreciate the honesty with which you name the exhaustion, the desperate back-peddling, the loneliness, and the ache of needing comfort when emotional availability was not there in the way you needed it. Philbin’s “substitute embrace” says so much without overexplaining, because sometimes an object becomes a witness to the tenderness a person was too depleted or unable to offer. Thank you for writing with such plain courage about the distance between what a picture can show and what a heart was carrying just outside the frame.
That is so sad. I spent a very long time without emotional availability. I guess the stuffed animal 🧸 has its place. I had a bunny and a sea turtle 💕
I am so sorry that happened. My ex-husband ruined so many moments for me. I am grateful for your willingness to share.
This shows how easily things can fall apart without a man being emotionally available in a relationship. I'm so sorry you had to go through this. And finally thank you for sharing your Playlist, I've saved.
penny, romance him. a morning kiss each day would do.
Ah greg—I sigh, with a single tear accumulating at the edge of my right eye—It’s too late.
Please don’t delete your comment, your good advice.
There’s always so much hesitancy about what to say or not say around the grieving and when you don’t know someone’s whole story, it’s easy to say the wrong thing.
Sometimes the wrong thing is the right thing. We just don’t want to hear it. (Sometimes the wrong thing is the wrong thing too. Ha ha. Don’t get me wrong.)
After all, grief is about acceptance.
And grief is about hope.
Next time I see Robben, there will be no more emotional paper cutting.
I reach for Philbin.
https://open.spotify.com/track/3vHb4RhUnTXVf6X2COGMPw?si=AQ1UUh9mQx6I9MwFYKHEQQ
As you shared this story, Penny Sue, I couldn’t help but see your anguish at withheld connection. I am so sorry this was your journey.
Thank you for sharing the inner rawness of your beauty.