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go of worries that only burden us. Letting go of stress that damages our bodies. Letting go of anger and resentments that weigh us down. Letting go of negativity that scars our souls. Letting go of expectations that disappoint us. Letting go of fears that hold us back. Letting go of negative self-talk that is just the bullsh#t stories we tell ourselves. Letting go of shame that doesn’t deserve our time or energy. There is a tremendous THE GIFT OF LETTING GO relief in letting go. It clears space for other, beautiful things to enter. We are all deserving of changes and newness that the blank slate of

My brothers and I laid It was a year plagued with dementia or the beginnings of actually cry more. a new year has to offer. our beloved father to worry and stress around a UTI? What if he fell? What I’m also trying to remind We each hold power over what rest on December 19, COVID-19. How to keep from if he ended up needing skilled myself that there’s a lightness (and whom) to fill our days, 2020. It was a lovely contracting it, passing it. To nursing care? Could we afford in letting go. Dad might not be time, and mind with, and I service complete glove or not to glove? Masks it? If so, for how long? here with me physically, but he hope that you chose to fill your with military honors and a definitely. The election. Forget Now my worries are gone, is with me in spirit, memory, moments with activities that chorus of Amazing Grace. it. The revolving news stories stolen away in the middle of and forever imbedded in my make your heart sing, people When he died on December that seemed to just get worse the night. Dad is in a better heart. When he left his body, that bring out the best in you, 10 from complications due to with each passing day. Each place. He is at peace and he took my worries with him. and thoughts that make your COVID-19, he was 19 days shy of his 91st birthday. Yeah, he was 90 and lived a full life, yaddah yah. But, he spent the last nine months of his life virtually alone, and he died alone. Planning a funeral while other people are planning Christmas menus and Hanukah festivities adds an extra layer of sadness to an already painful and every one of us has been living with a level of stress humming in the background like a record we hate, but can’t shake. We have been in a constant state of worry about friends and family, jobs, businesses we love, maybe even rent and mortgage payments. I laid in bed at night worrying about Dad. Was he getting the care he needed and reunited with Mom and my brother, Phil. If that’s what you believe, and I do. I have to. It’s what helps me get up in the morning. And, if we don’t have faith, what are we left with? I am tremendously sad and grieving the loss of a great man. I’ve circled through anger, bitterness, and a plethora of emotions in the last hour. I cried so much the days before Now I know he is truly okay. His passing is bittersweet. I have a Texas-size hole in my heart, but he is free from pain and suffering. I am free from worry. And while I don’t get to spend Christmas or his birthday with him, I feel as if his passing was his last gift to me. “Stop worrying, sweetie. I am okay—now you need to be. Let go and let God.” whole body light up. Stay positive, strong, and healthy. Fill your body with fuel to keep it strong and energized for the bright days ahead because they are coming. Wrap yourself in warmth and optimism and soak in the rays of a bright New Year filled with joy, health, and immense happiness. Happy New Year! process, but it also felt like par deserved? Did anyone turn on he passed that I thought I had As we strike out into the for the course for this dreadful Judge Judy for him? Did they exhausted my tears for eternity. New Year, I hope we can all If you would like to read more year. How else could this year help him cut his meat? When The day after the service, I give ourselves the gift of letting of Lori’s work, you can follow possibly end but by ripping my he said he was at Montgomery drove to North Carolina to rest go. Letting go of a past that her on Medium at Lori Welch heart apart? Wards was it a bout of and restore and found I could no longer serves us. Letting Brown.