• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header left navigation
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn

  • Home
  • About Toni
  • Blog
ToniLepeskaLogoToniLepeskaLogo

Toni Lepeska

When a Parent Dies

  • Speaking
    • Media Kit
  • Contact
  • Resources

toni lepeska

Reading Inherited Diaries

What if you could hear your deceased parent tell a story you’ve never heard? What if you could discover thoughts they’d never expressed? What if you could get perspective they never gave you in life? If a parent or another loved one left behind a diary or journal – or even letters or tales of …

Read moreReading Inherited Diaries

Do Little Losses Prepare Us for Big Ones?

I wrote earlier this month about a long ago event of betrayal. Of pain. Of grief. Yes, I’m used to writing about grief, but not this grief, not this particular loss. The Wonder Report published the article My Dream Didn’t Come True, and Here’s Why It Was the Best Thing to Happen I began the story with …

Read moreDo Little Losses Prepare Us for Big Ones?

Who is Protector After Dad is Gone?

Our sense of security is often rooted in our fathers. After my dad died, I called out to God spontaneously, “Send me a protector!” Where do we find that sense of safety that we lost? I caution not to go looking for it in a romance. That was my first go-to. I did not realize …

Read moreWho is Protector After Dad is Gone?

Do You Hear Voices Like Me?

I hear voices, but don’t be concerned. I don’t need medicine. I don’t need a psychiatrist. You hear voices in your head, too. Our voices try to pull us down daily, feeding us messages of fear and inadequacy. They tinker with our sense of identity. They attack when we are weak from grief and stress. …

Read moreDo You Hear Voices Like Me?

Mother’s Day: Grieving & Gratitude for the Mother I Knew & One I Never Knew

When you’ve lost your first love, your biggest fan, your highest image of womanhood, Mother’s Day is never the same again. A day set aside to express gratitude to her becomes a day of grief. I really hated Mother’s Day the first few years. I faced Mother’s Day’s Most Difficult Moment if I did not skip …

Read moreMother’s Day: Grieving & Gratitude for the Mother I Knew & One I Never Knew

That Grief Term: “Letting Go”

Letting go. The term and its derivatives come up frequently in grief circles. I detest them. I cringe when I hear them used. It’s typically thrust at us, as in, “You need to let go” or if you do this or that “then you will let go.” Or we ourselves decide our healing is in …

Read moreThat Grief Term: “Letting Go”

“I Know How You Feel”: What To Do With Grief Platitudes

How should we respond when well-meaning people say things that injure us? Has anyone ever delivered any of these platitudes, clichés or other expressions meant to comfort you as a griever? “I know how you feel.” “Time heals all wounds.” “God must have needed her more.” “You can have more children.” “She’s in a better …

Read more“I Know How You Feel”: What To Do With Grief Platitudes

Parkinson’s & the Impact of Prolonged Illness on Grief

What is the impact of prolonged illness on grief? Does it give us time to get used to the idea of death? Does the anticipation in some way lessen the sting of loss? I think on these questions as we mark Parkinson’s Awareness Week and World Parkinson’s Day, April 10th on the 2019 calendar. My …

Read moreParkinson’s & the Impact of Prolonged Illness on Grief

What Death Cannot Snatch Away

Grief isn’t simply a loss of what was. It also is a loss for what might have been if mother, father, husband, sister, brother, grandparent or friend had lived. Because of this, life gives us endless opportunities to reflect on our loss. And yet, as I celebrated 10 years of marriage to my husband last …

Read moreWhat Death Cannot Snatch Away
  • Previous
  • Page 1
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Page 4
  • Page 5
  • Page 6
  • Page 7
  • Page 8
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Page 17
  • Next

Sign up for my Newsletter

and get a FREE email bonus for subscribing to my latest posts

The form you have selected does not exist.

  • Home
  • Blog
  • About Toni
  • Speaking
  • Media Kit
  • Contact
  • Resources
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy

Follow Me On

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn

ToniLepeskaLogo