Deb Beausoleil 📷🌅📸 she/her

@Lizette603_23@mastodon.social Oh my, you made me laugh, and boy, did I need that. Add to that - "that which doesn't kill us will make us stronger". Gee, thanks. Seriously, though, I understand that people don't know what to say. And given there are people in real life who have yet to say a word to me, I'd rather someone say something ridiculous because that is better than nothing and it's good for a laugh sometimes, like now. Hugs to you.

The losses keep coming, each one testing my strength. Today my uncle passed away — just over a month after losing my dad, his brother. It feels heavy, but I will keep going.

But I’m still here. Still breathing. Still choosing to look for small things to hold onto.

1. Dad and my uncle are no longer separated by illness or time.
2. I am stronger than I feel in the middle of the night.
3. I am not walking through this completely alone.
Bonus: This sunrise on the Blue Ridge Parkway is one of the images in my “filmstrip in my head” — the kind I think about when I wake in the night. It reminds me that light returns, and with it comes quiet gratitude and hope for the day ahead.

#3GoodThings #Grief #LifeAfterLoss #OneDayAtATime #FindingLight #ThreeGoodThings #virginia #blueridgemountains

@Lizette603_23@mastodon.social thank you so much.

A month ago today, Dad died.

Somehow that feels both recent and far away, and I’m trying not to let the passing days make him feel further from me.

This photo was taken in 2022, just south of Grayling, Michigan. I was driving him to Virginia so he could live with us. The road stretched out ahead of us, and we had no idea what the next years would hold. But we were happy to be on the journey together.

A few days before that trip, he left me a voicemail telling me he loved me and was happy I was coming for him. I still have that message. It’s my most precious treasure.

Lately, when memories hit, my chest tightens and I sigh to let the pressure out. Sometimes I cry anyway. And that’s good.

I’m especially grateful for the people who have understood where I’m at without me having to explain it, and who have quietly offered their support.

One month. Still figuring out how to carry this.

#Grief #OneMonthLater #RememberingDad #LifeAfterLoss

1. Today was one of the hardest tasks. We brought Dad’s ashes home.

2. I’m grateful I didn’t do it alone.

3. He’ll be laid to rest beside Mom later in spring or summer — his final wish.

#Grief #Bereavement #Remembering #LifeAfterLoss #today

Kindness doesn’t always show up when I expect it. I’m learning I can’t control that—only how much space I give it, and who I choose to remain.

When I was a teenager, Dad and I were at a grocery store checkout where the cashier was having a hard day. Dad met her with kindness anyway,. I asked him how he could do that and he told me, “Her bad mood doesn’t have to change who I am.”

I’ve carried that lesson with me ever since. Some days it’s easier than others. But it’s still the way I want to move through the world.

This photograph was taken nearly twenty years ago at Tahquamenon Falls, on a cold winter day when the footing wasn’t easy. Dad was always willing to come along when I headed out with the camera. I think of it now as a reminder that I’m still walking with his guidance, even now.

#Grief #Kindness #Photography
#WalkingForward #TodaysSmallMoment
#Michigan #UpperPeninsula

Stepping out the front door and seeing snow still covering the ground here in Virginia. It feels surreal—quiet, bright, and almost borrowed from somewhere farther north.

Thinking about Dad as this storm moved through. He passed while it was still underway. Being from Michigan, snow never surprised him—but Virginia snow usually disappears so quickly that he was always a little amused by it.

Except this time it didn’t. Nearly two weeks later, the snow is still here, the cold holding on. It feels like a pause that fits these days. And it brings a quiet awareness that I’m now between two homes—Michigan and Virginia—and neither quite feels like home without Dad. Still, I know I need to find my way forward here, to build a new sense of comfort in Virginia, carrying him with me in spirit.

#today #threegoodthings #3goodthings #grief #reflection #healingjourney #gratefulheart

Turning the calendar page today was harder than I expected. That last month held the final days of my dad’s life, and letting it go felt like I was moving farther away from him.

This photo, Solitude at Sunset, helps. That’s my dad in the silhouette. I took this years ago, after Mom had already been gone for a while, and gave it to him for Father’s Day. Somehow it feels like it’s come back to me now — a quiet reminder that love doesn’t disappear just because time keeps moving.

And the third thing is that I did it anyway. I turned the page, even though it hurt, choosing to carry him with me instead of leaving him behind.

#3goodthings #ThreeGoodThings #photography #ayearforart #grief #grateful

1. The photo shows my boon companion and a welcome shadow as I begin to navigate life without Dad. 2. She really is the sweetest cat in the world — despite the slightly grumpy look she’s giving here. 3. Girlie gives me something tender to focus on, a small anchor to steady me as I move through my days. #3GoodThings #ThreeGoodThings #CatsOfMastodon #BlackCat #caturday