Walking in Grief

I come from the GREAT state of Texas. The long horn state where the highways and flatland never seem to end. One of the television commercials that I will have etched on my brain forever goes like this. How long has it been since you have had a bowl of wolf brand chili? Well, neighbor that is entirely too long. Wolf brand chili is one of those things that you can get in Texas that is hard to find anywhere else.

My wife and I miss several things about Texas. The chili, authentic Mexican cooking and a soft drink called Big Red. We have been gone from Texas since August of 1997 and though I do not miss the big city living in Houston we certainly miss other things and people. We miss our family and friends that we left behind. Not only do we not miss the big city living but also we don’t miss some of the things that I remember about Houston Texas. I don’t miss the traffic jams. I do not miss the heat and humidity. I don’t miss the sounds of sirens at all hours of the day and night. I do not miss the hustle and bustle of the big city. Houston Texas is a city that never sleeps.

As a father that is walking through the grief process I have to say that there are things that I miss about our Jessica and there are things that I do not miss. All of these things are elements of the grief that I have to work through each day and sometimes each week.

One of the things that I do not miss is the daily or weekly visits to the MUSC radiology and oncology department. I do not miss the quarterly checkups where we would have to sit in a room for…