Photographs and stories by Jim Grey

Tag: loss

Sorting through Mom’s things

Just a little stream of consciousness about what we’ve found while going through Mom’s stuff.

16 March 2023
Comparing and contrasting grief

I reflect on how I experienced grief with several losses over the last 10 years.

20 October 2022
Monopoly money: A story from my new book, A Place to Start

How my son taught me a lesson in coping with loss. A story in my next book, A Place to Start.

11 November 2020
This cup is already broken

On enjoying what we have while we have it.

20 February 2019
“You are five times the father I ever was,” my dad said to me

I wanted to live with my sons every day of their childhoods, but the divorce ended that for good. I reflect here on how I grieve that loss even now that my sons are grown up.

16 March 2018
Monopoly money

How my son Garrett taught me a lesson in coping with loss.

24 April 2017
This cup is already broken

On enjoying what we have while we have it.

22 February 2017
Monopoly money

I was feeling pretty good about my financial situation as I headed into the summer. I was paying down debt pretty powerfully and had built up some savings. But then August was unexpectedly expensive. I replaced my car’s transmission, rented a car for two weeks, bought a new refrigerator, and had some medical and veterinary bills. Bam! Within…

25 March 2015
The Christmas bellwether

This is the third in a short series of stories from 10 years ago. A sad story for Christmas Eve, but with a hopeful ending. Just one more story to go after this, next week. It seemed like a good idea at the time, having Christmas as a family. It was our last. I couldn’t see,…

24 December 2014
Three hundred square feet

This is the second in a short series about the most difficult time of my life, ten years ago right now. I told this story once before, in November of 2009, but rewrote it for today. She wanted me out, just for a month, just to clear our heads. Ten days later, the double-cross: don’t come back.…

19 December 2014
This cup is already broken

I first published this in 2010 but have been thinking of it recently as I’ve been upgrading some furnishings in my home. This was my favorite mug. A long time ago I worked in a museum’s gift shop. We sold works of local artists and for several weeks featured a talented potter. I was taken…

22 March 2013
This cup is already broken

This was my favorite mug. A long time ago I worked in a museum’s gift shop. We sold works of local artists and for several weeks featured a talented local potter. I was taken with this fellow’s work for its bold color, especially four coffee mugs in this motif. I wanted them all, but could…

10 May 2010