Grief – Claudia Putnam: Writer: Poetry & Prose

Burning Down the Room

Sep 18, 2012

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by

in Boulder Fire, Grief, Life Changes, Parenting, PTSD, Trauma, Wildfire

I just came back from visiting my son, now 21. As I think about my next steps in the world—I’ve moved into my third rental space in less than two years—it seems like a good time to post this draft of a blog post I found in my files recently. I’m not sure why it…

Journal Entry 4/28/12

May 1, 2012

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by

Claudia Putnam

in Grief, Life Changes, Literary Inspiration, Poetry

God drains what God breathes into us so long between breaths

Dearly Beloved

Jun 13, 2011

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by

Claudia Putnam

in Bereavement, Death and dying, Grief, Life Changes, Parenting, Relationships

It took 22 years to come to this. I never knew what to do about letting Jacob’s ashes go. But I am taking a creative writing fellowship on the East Coast this fall. My ex-husband is also moving, and our other son is in college on the West Coast. It didn’t seem right to put…

Unpreparing

Mar 1, 2011

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by

Claudia Putnam

in Bereavement, Death and dying, Grief, Literary Inspiration, Writing

A further post on the matter of mentally preparing for death. Or un-. Not sure why I’m on this kick. But as I was in the middle of all these thoughts, a high-school English teacher of mine, David Weber, sent me the gorgeous poem below. It was written by another former teacher at Exeter, Charles…

Massive

Feb 21, 2011

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by

Claudia Putnam

in Bereavement, Death and dying, Grief, Life Changes, Relationships, Trauma

At the end of last year I posted about some “night terrors” after I met an older man contemplating his impending death. A high-school classmate responded by telling me of his heart attack a few years back. His comments are included at the end of the blog post; he says he felt an overwhelming sorrow…

Night Terrors

Dec 22, 2010

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by

Claudia Putnam

in Bereavement, Death and dying, Grief

Just last week I met a very elderly man with a terminal illness (let’s face it, we’re all terminal) at a party. We had a frank discussion. He said he was tired of funerals and hoped when he returned to his home state he could attend a few weddings or christenings instead. He dreaded reading…

PTSD—What It’s Like

Dec 8, 2010

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by

Claudia Putnam

in Books, Grief, Life Changes, PTSD, Trauma, Wildfire

Ever had stage fright? I don’t mean the good kind. Where you have some butterflies in your stomach and a bit of a metallic taste in your mouth. Maybe that’s slightly unpleasant but it can also help you focus a little better and in the end it seems to come out all right. The audience…

Lucky/Unlucky

Oct 28, 2010

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by

Claudia Putnam

in Boulder Fire, Economy, Grief, Life Changes, Wildfire

“I can’t complain, but sometimes I still do…” –Joe Walsh When I was a kid, I had picture book called Fortunately. As I recall, the character had, fortunately, been invited to a birthday party. Unfortunately, it was on the other side of the country. Fortunately, he had a plane. Unfortunately, it blew up. Fortunately,…

In Honor

Apr 25, 2010

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by

Claudia Putnam

in Bereavement, Grief, Parenting

Dear little Jake, You had your great-grandfather’s nose, or so we imagined, based on photographs of him. You were alive for only three days, and writing that phrase makes me have to stop typing and cry. You were only alive for three days, and so we can only do an age-progression in our minds. When…

Category: Grief