When Molly and Jimmy were little, they played a game they called “Hot Lava”. The rules were simple — the family room floor was covered in hot lava, and they couldn’t step on it (for obvious reasons). Because of the hot lava, Molly and Jimmy “had” to climb on the back of the couch, stand on the coffee table and leap from the couch to the fireplace. Otherwise, “we could burn up, Mom!”

In the days and weeks after Jimmy died, I could barely manage to leave the house. My husband, Dan, and I spent long hours walking our dog, Buster, on the horse trails near our house, often not saying a word…

Some things in life cannot be fixed. They can only be carried. Megan Devine

Death provides a brutally effective way of finding out who leans in and who leans out when one of your beloveds dies. It exposes whether your family and close friends are willing to show up in a way that’s…