Harry Potter as grief counselor

OK, sounds like a crazy title for a blog post, hungh?  Well, working at a funeral home can really get you thinking about how to get yourself and others through the grief process.  

I've been working at Wheeler Funeral Home since December, and it has really been an adjustment for me.  Even though I mostly answer phones and do insurance paperwork, I do sometimes have the opportunity (and privilege) to talk with our family members.  By the way, we don't think of people who come to us in their time of grief as "customers" we think of them as "families" and in a sense, they do become part of our family.  

My heart really goes out to folks who are grieving.  I often wonder what I can do or say to make things a little lighter.  The other day I was sitting at my desk and thinking of what books deal with the grief process. Believe it or not, the Harry Potter books came to mind.  

The seven book series by J.K. Rowling is the story of a young boy named Harry who was orphaned as a baby, raised by an aunt and uncle, shipped off to school, and in the process becomes an amazing young man.  The school that he is sent to is no ordinary school though; it is a school that teaches magic.  Through all his adventures, Harry gets into trouble, learns hard lessons, experiences joy and pain, and in the process he is reaffirmed by this new friends and his new found talents.  

My favorite book in the series is the very first one, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.  Longing to see his parents who died when he was a baby, Harry stumbles across a magic mirror.  Here are a few excerpts....

"He looked in the mirror again.  A woman standing right behind his reflection was smiling at him and waving.  He reached out a hand and felt the air behind him.  If she was really there, he'd touch her, their reflections were so close together, but he felt only air - she and the others existed only in the mirror." 

"She was a very pretty woman.  She had dark red hair and her eyes - her eyes are just like mine, Harry thought, edging a little closer to the glass."

..." 'Mum?' he whispered. 'Dad?' ...He had a powerful kind of ache inside him, half joy, half terrible sadness.  How long he stood there, he didn't know.  The reflections did not fade and he looked and looked until a distant noise brought him back to his senses."

Later the Head Master, Dumbledore comes in to teach Harry what the mirror is about..." 'It shows us nothing more or less than the deepest, most desperate desire of our hearts....Men have wasted away before it, entranced by what they have seen....It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live, remember that.' "

The series has many little nuggets of truth like that sprinkled throughout.  In one of the later books, Harry loses a close friend.  The author Rowling just has a special way of guiding us through Harry's journeys....the ups and downs.  

The first book is 309 pages, but it is easy to follow and is a quick read.  Please let me know if you check it out!  : )

Boston Lives On

My heart goes out to all those affected by the Boston Marathon bombings this past week.  Events like that make you question the goodness of man.  Even though there is evil in the world, there is also goodness and hope.  

Many people choose to watch the wall to wall tv news coverage of it all week long, but I was not one of them.  I myself am a runner, and I knew I had a road race coming up.  

Get discouraged by watching the news all week - no.

Get up early Saturday morning, lace up my running shoes, and go run a local road race - YES!

Remember Boston by doing something....volunteer to hand out water at a local road race, run in a road race, donate blood, give to a charity...the possibilities are limitless!  

Southern Comfort Food

Welcome to the first installment of Southern Comfort Food.  There are times when I'm not having such a good day, and it always cheers me up to suddenly remember that I have a bunch of Skittles stashed away in my desk drawer.  So, you can imagine how much it cheers my little heart to sit down to a nice hot, home-cooked meal after a long day!

One of my favorite meals when I was growing up was Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and peas.  Whenever it was my birthday or my brother's birthday, we would always ask mom to make it.  Of course the peas all ended up inside the mashed potatoes (how else are you going to get them on the fork?), and I always put ketchup on the meatloaf.  My friends call me the "Ketchup Kid," but that is a blog post for another day.  ; )

 via dinnerwithjulie.com

Another favorite of mine is homemade Chicken and Dumplings.  I always cheat and just pinch off pieces of canned biscuits, but they still turn out really good. 

   via eclecticrecipes.com

Is your mouth watering as much as mine is now?  He, he...I'm so bad!  Hope y'all enjoyed these.  You can click on the links below the pictures to get some great recipe ideas.  Talk to y'all soon!

 

The first time...

Hey there friends!  I hope everyone is doing well today.  : )  FYI - today's blog post might be a little weighty.

Losing a loved one and saying good-bye is such a challenging process to go through.  The closer you are to that special person the harder it is to move on, and I can imagine that losing a spouse can be especially hard. 

Some  of the "first-time" experiences can be really hard to get through, such as;

the first time you log onto your computer using your loved one's special password

the first time you go to write a check and see their name at the top

the first time you run into an old friend in town and have to explain why you are alone....

And the list goes on and on....

But, some other "first-time" experiences that you can choose to think about instead could be;

the first time you held your loved one's hand

the first time you talked on the phone for two hours

the first time you felt butterflies in your stomach when seeing them

the first time that you became certain of your true love

And this list can go on and on too!  Let's try to focus on some of the good "first-times" also.  Thanks for reading, and please feel free to leave me a comment too.  Take care!  

 

all things spring

Is there anything better than a nice stroll through Covington in the spring-time?  All the cherry blossoms, and daffodils just melt my heart!

Well, on a quest for the perfect spring pictures, here is what I've come up with...

Hope y'all enjoyed these, talk to you soon!

Local BBQ Happenings

Well, it's spring time in Georgia, so fire up the grill!  I guess anytime of the year is good for that though. 

Here are some of of the local events going on...

 

Maybe we'll see y'all there.  Take care, and talk to you soon.

Simple Quiche and Plastic Bag Asparagus

Well, if a title like that doesn't get your attention, I don't know what will.  He, he  ; )

It's a cold, rainy (how can it possibly be spring?) night in Georgia.  I thought it would be nice to cook something in the oven tonight.  Anytime I can heat up the house and my belly at the same time, then that is a good thing. 

For the quiche, I used a ready made pie crust which I baked in the oven alone for about five minutes while I browned some turkey burger.  Then, in a large bowl I combined 6 eggs, chopped chives, the cooked turkey burger, and an entire packet of shredded cheddar cheese.  You can use whatever type of cheese is your favorite.  So, the ingredients were:

Pie Crust
6 eggs
Turkey Burger
Chopped Chives
Cheddar Cheese

Then, I put the ingredients from the bowl into the pie crust and baked it on 375 for about 25 minutes. 

For the Plastic Bag Asparagus, I just used a regular grocery store plastic bag (with no holes), and added the asparagus, a generous amount of olive oil, and salt.  I shook it up and then put the asparagus in a glass dish and baked on 375 for about 15 or 20 minutes.

 

As always, let me know what you think.  I love getting comments!

Also, I'm going to be starting up a series called Southern Comfort Food. So, let me know if you have any suggestions for it.  Y'all take care, and I hope to hear from you soon!