Besides being an awesome play on words...why did I choose The Write Relief for this Blog name?
My Dad, Rob, was a newspaper editor in Marinette, Wisconsin for The Eagle Herald. He enjoyed writing and editing and words in general. Everyone knew to NOT go up against him in a game of Scrabble or Boggle. He completed crossword puzzles in his sleep and even did them in pen. And most importantly, he loved to create his own words and make a “play on words.” For example, we were a big breakfast-for-dinner family and my Dad always called it “brinner.” He told jokes about a fictional character: Justin Time. And he also liked aliases and often used Web Fowler when he signed up for restaurant birthday clubs. He would do anything for a free DQ blizzard!
My Dad made his own birthday cards for my sister and I as kids. They usually included a ridiculous rhyming poem. He wrote notes to us when he worked the late shift at the paper that we would find on the kitchen table at breakfast the next morning. I was never more excited than when I saw his name pop up in my email inbox while I was in college. He’d include some words of wisdom, a funny an
ecdote from the happenings on Riverbend Dr. and a line about how he was looking forward to seeing me on my next trip home. Even in just a sentence or two, I could feel the love through his words.
To him, writing was second nature. Both his sense of humor and deep love for his family came through in his writing. I like to think he passed some of that on to both my sister and I. For me, writing has helped me through the grieving process over the last several years. I have written letters to my Dad since then updating him on big milestones in my life. When I can’t quite verbalize how much I miss my Dad, I write it down, take a deep breath and go for a walk, something he and I enjoyed doing together even in the dark and dead of winter.
So, my relief from grief has been writing. I think The Write Relief is a fitting blog name since it is a play on words and The Right Relief is aimed at providing caregivers personalized relief. Everyone grieves differently; and caregivers need specific and ever changing “relief” based on their loved ones situation.
