Thriver Soup now is available as an ebook.
As a Nook Book: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/thriver-soup-heidi-bright-mdiv/1123295453?ean=9781611393743
As a Kindle edition: http://www.amazon.com/Thriver-Soup-Living-Consciously-Journey-ebook/dp/B01AVJZQIU/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1453409988&sr=1-3&keywords=sunstone+press
Enjoy!
Thriver Soup now has its own website, thriversoup.com. Commenting on blog posts should be easy now because I am using Wordpress through Inmotion Hosting.
Because there is no easy way to move two years’ worth of weekly blog posts with my new domain host, previous posts will temporarily remain on heidibright.com, yet that website also is being moved to my new host and the blogs probably will not transfer. If there is anything you want to look up, now is the time.
A new website called parentofanaddict.com is in the works so blog posts about addiction will be appearing there. Dennis Spencer, a wonderful Cincinnati artist who works with addicts, is starting the process of creating the logo and cover art. Eventually the site will include weekly blog posts on Tuesdays. Currently it contains some news stories. I also plan to add resources for parents.
heidibright.com will eventually be moved to the new host, so it also will feature a new look. The same holds true for preservefamilymemories.com.
Please let me know what you think of this new website by leaving a comment below. Thank you!
Those who act kindly in this world will have kindness.
Qur’an 39.10
I was in need of much kindness.
I was a single mother whose firstborn had recently passed away and whose only other child was spending Christmas with his father.
Dread filled my heart when I thought about the upcoming holiday. Christmas 2014 had seemed horrible enough. My 19-year-old had purchased a one-way ticket to hell years earlier–turning to substance abuse, most likely in part because of my end-stage cancer diagnosis in 2009–and he was dragging us along. We spent three long hours in a drug rehab facility. A thick blanket of pain hung heavily around each person as we ate, played bingo, and strained to make small talk. Anger, hurt, sorrow, fear, and powerlessness pervaded my being.
My son ended up doing what most heroin addicts do—he overdosed in June. Then a friend of his overdosed before Thanksgiving, bringing another cascade of grief.
What to do for Christmas this year? I wanted to avoid sobbing into a cup of tea all day. Lovely friends invited me to join them, and I am grateful, but it still would have been a horrible holiday. I knew I needed to get completely away from the memories for awhile.
Then I had a conversation with one of my sisters-in-law, followed by an invitation to Seattle for the holidays.
It was perfect. I left a week before Christmas and stayed well into the new year to avoid emotional triggers. They piled my lap with more gifts than I have received in decades. My sister-in-law cooked amazing meals and showed me the treasures she had been collecting for a museum she plans to open in Astoria, Oregon, in June. I also disappeared into my deceased parents’ past, scanning hundreds of old family slides and transcribing German letters.
My brother and his family acted with great kindness, and I am so grateful. I actually had a really nice Christmas.
Thriver Soup Ingredient:
If you know someone who has suffered a great loss, your kindness is deeply appreciated.
Give thanks in all circumstances…
1 Thessalonians 5:18, Christian Bible, New International Version
A large package appeared on my front porch a week before Christmas. I hadn’t ordered anything, and didn’t expect any gifts from anyone.
The label included an unknown name above my address. Hmmm.
I called the delivery company, the former homeowners, the return address phone number. After two hours on and off the phone, the originating company representative told me the package was mine.
Excited, I cut through the tape and pulled out a large red stoneware container holding potpourri. It featured an embossed fleur-de-lis.
My son Tristan’s favorite color was red. Fleur-de-lis is French for the lily flower, which is used to symbolize resurrection. The Boy Scouts, an organization to which Tristan belonged for years, uses the symbol.
Was it somehow, through a series of small errors, sent to me by Tristan’s energy? No one can say for sure. My friend Kay, who lost her son, taught me to see these unusual events as signs from our loved ones. She would say, “Thank you, thank you, send me more.” Because she is open to the possibility and watching for it, she notices what others might readily dismiss, and she feels a precious sense of connection with and gratitude toward her son.
So I am going to accept this gift as if my son sent it to me and give thanks for this unusual and wonderful circumstance.
Thriver Soup Ingredient:
If you have lost a loved one to cancer, watch for interesting and unusual signs that this person is communicating with you. If something happens, give your loved one thanks and ask for more.
Thriver Soup Article: Special Delivery, by Heidi Bright