the psychic ....

if only there was a way to tag my bridesmaids in this post.... and i feel as if there was a prior post about this, i may just need to do some digging through my old blogs... so i guess ill just have to start from the beginning *shrugs*

prior to Sean and I's wedding, i had my bachelorette party in New Orleans, and while there aren't many stories i can share from that trip, lol,  this is one of them...

One morning, some of the girls and I decided to get up early and do a little sight seeing.  We would explore the town and check out some of the street vendors. While walking in Jackson Square, a lady grabs my hand and says she needs to speak to me. Pretty sure that she could tell by the look on my face that I was clearly frightened when a stranger grabbed my hand. When I looked around I saw an empty palm reader table and quickly informed her that i didn't believe in psychics.  She stated to me that she knew I was a non believer but had a very important message for me, so she would need to tell me about my past and current, before she could tell me my future.

She said that she had a message from my grandmother who had just passed away, and that i had told her something when i was alone with her after she passed at the hospital.
" She wants you to know that she was still there and heard everything you said.  She is sorry about what happened and understands and loves you too."

I immediately began to ball.  She asked me was i willing to listen now, obviously i said yes and sat down.

"You are getting married soon..." (now mind you i had on NO items to signify my engagement, not even my ring, i had actually taken it off to clean it and left it in the hotel room) "and you are wondering, if this is the right decision, the answer is yes."  

And again I began to cry.  Just a few weeks prior, Sean and I had our first real argument about his drinking, and we had discussed cancelling the wedding.  At this point deposits were paid, he had just transferred to Dallas, and we ended up talking it all out, but this was the first time I  was honestly concerned that he had a problem. I remember my cousin Arry and Lisha holding my hand and us just listening to everything she said, while i cried...

" This marriage is meant to happen and apart of your journey. About a year after you are married you will have a daughter.  she will be smart and beautiful and the light of your lives. She will help you... i need you to understand me, things will get VERY HARD, and VERY BAD before they get better. You must push through, and no matter what, STAY IN YOUR MARRIAGE... you will want to give up at times, and when times get hard remember to turn to God and your family..." 

and i just continued to cry... i mean this isn't the most optimistic story going so far here

"Once you can get through the hard times, eventually things will turn out better.  Eventually you will have two sons, very close in age.  Older than your daughter, i see twins, so if not twins close in age"

she repeated this part multiple times and it was very confusing at the time...

"you will be very close to one, and your husband to the other, you will be the protector of one..." 

i remember thinking that i thought she was confused and maybe picking up a reference to our family and not me, as this storyline sounded familiar, but listened anyway.

"you will eventually have another child, but when you least expect it, and it will be a son.  you will live a long and happy life, but whenever times are hard you must remember to turn to your faith, and remember to just keep praying."

When she finished i tried to pay her but she refused to accept my money.  I cried the entire way back to the hotel.  Sitting now its been almost 11 years since that day, and most of her fortune has come to fruition.  If that last part does, L will be a little disappointed, as she still prays for a sister almost daily, and is convinced that D and I "just won't give her one" lol!

But Lani was born 13 days after our second anniversary, and is the most incredible little girl i could've ever prayed for.

If you follow my blog, then you know the spectrum of how difficult things became....


And I am now I am the happiest I've ever been, and I've ended up with "two older sons" who are a year apart in age, and one who I'm constantly protecting from a butt whooping lol.

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future... Jeremiah 29:11

hello... it's me...

so how many of you said that in Adele's voice .....lol! i totally sang it in my head in Adele's voice as i typed it! (but the title will make sense later) My posts have been pretty far and few between lately, but ive had ALOT on my plate

The last few months have been difficult.  Returning to grad school has been stressful. I've been battling a new symptom to my allergies that was causing me to break out in hives 2-3 times a week, which resulted in a whole new, and much larger allergy regimen, and steroids to strengthen my system. The steroids, caused weight gain; weight gain caused stress...  the boyfriend made a comment about the weight (audible gasp by the ladies here), which caused more stress... more stress lead to more migraines ... shall i continue... its been rough....

Recently i talked to my mom about things getting better, and being happy to finally being off of steroids and getting the migraines under control, and feeling like while ok... we are on the path again...

ok so fast forward a few days... somehow i upgraded my account recently and now my phone can play music for my morning alarm.  i notice for the last 3 days the exact same song comes on.  Normally i just turn it off but i figured, this was pretty odd, since it was pandora, and the songs are "random", so i let it play today.

so needless to say im crying... then the next song comes on, which is one of my favorite songs and clearly telling me things will get better.  i still remember the day my girl Libby sent it to me and told me to list for the first time  

so clearly im balling now... so im asking myself is this a sign... or am i just being crazy... and then this comes on



so as you can imagine i am literally shaking!!!shaking!!! and balling... like can you imagine being me and hearing these 3 songs back to back... and adele says "hello from the other side"😳

i swear i will never listen to this song the same way again.

i legit was freaking out... so thankful Marieanne was able to calm me down because

so for those wondering at work why yesterday was a 1 or a 2....now you know

p.s. i love you....'

today i watched it...
i know what you're thinking, "a widow watching p.s. i love you is a recipe for disaster."

i didn't make it through the first 20 minutes last time i watched, but today i watched it in it's entirety.
today i saw a different side of the movie.
its not just about a widow, but about her finding herself.
and it dawned on me how we all go through our own journey to find ourselves.
and while i'm 99.99% sure most of our journeys aren't fabulously orchestrated by our late spouse, the journey is key.

for 15 years we were "Sean and Ashley" ...
and for a long time i didn't know what i was without Sean...
because in the good times, the turmoil, the happiness and the chaos, we were still a unit...

so the question became, what was i now?

i remember the first time i filled out a form and had to check my marital status

- single
- married
- divorce

those were my only options, and i didn't feel like any applied to me

so who was i?

what was i?

it took the last few years for me to figure that out.
to reach a place where i know who i am.

there were many tear filled nights, and panicked breakdowns.
there were so many nights alone, and lucid dreams where i'm sure that reality and the dream world converged for a while.

there was confusion and unanswered questions for both myself and my child

how could i answer her questions?
who was going to answer my questions?

and then i remembered what the pastor told me when they came to visit...

"ask God all the questions you want.... be angry... be mad... but know that he might not answer all of them, and they may not be the answers you wanted to hear."

you see sometimes God calms the storm, but other times he allows the storm to rage on and move us to where we need to be...

The last 3 years have definitely moved me, but they also allowed me to find myself

i am
... a black woman
... a believer in God's power
... a mother
... a daughter
... a sister
... an educator
... Ashley

and yes i am a widow,  but am no longer defined by this.
It is a facet of who i am.

a lot of rain lately...

With all that has happened in the world recently I would think many people are starting to question things...

Question God...

Question Humanity...

Question is this the "End of Days"...

It's scary...

I'm going to steal a little from my Facebook, but then i'll bring it back ...

"I think one of the things that hit home the most about the Orlando shootings, is the irony that Orlando is supposed to be the happiest place on earth! Yet there have been two mass shootings this past weekend. Suddenly America's eyes are pried opened again... 

The place we dreamed of going as kids, and put on our children's summer vacation bucket lists as adults isn't even safe anymore. "The happiest place on earth!" This is supposed to be our safe place. AMERICA IS SUPPOSED TO BE A SAFE HAVEN. America is the country that million flock to for religious and social freedom. That my Grandparents move to, to provide better opportunities for themselves, my father, and their future grandchildren and descendants. Where people flock daily to escape the persecutions that are so widely publicized elsewhere. To have their inalienable rights observed and protected. 

But when there were 372 mass shooting in the US alone in 2015, and now and between 133-176 mass shootings (depending on which news site you view) on day 165 of the year, the ideas of America being a safe place to raise our kids seems to have become more wishful thinking than the foundation of who we are."

Then this morning we woke up to yet another tragedy in Orlando and this time its a 2 year old child.

I just cried watching the news this am.

Then I thought about how our 3 tragedies, which seem to be the end of days to us in America, is an everyday reality in some countries.

So while we are sitting here in the midst of a storm, we must remember that God could calm the storm, but sometimes, he puts them in our lives to remind us of things...

So while we must remember to thank God for our blessings and even more so during our struggles.

Keeping it Real

I feel like i constantly have to walk a line between being respectful to my family, friends, Lani, and Sean's memory, while keeping my blog authentic to my life and my story.

I'm always surprised at the reach of my blog...

Today alone i had views and hits from Moscow, Bangladesh, and Foshan (still have no idea where that is... and if my ADD doesn't kick in too much i will google it after this post... but i digress)

So when i get emails, texts, and dm's from people who read my posts I'm always shocked...
Because despite what some may think, the goal of this blog is to be an outlet of my feelings through out my life journey, as it always has been.

For years i've posted about my struggles
 ... my bucket runneth over....


And while some my posts are controversial to others, the harsh reality is that they are my truth...

The even bigger reality is that for every post i make, there are probably 3-4 that are just sitting in the draft box...

So how do i keep it real to myself and be contentious of everyone's feelings?

I don't know that I can...

Because for every post that is hard for others to read, it was  and is even harder for me to live.

THIS IS MY REALITY.

I love Sean VERY MUCH. And i always will, but my blogging is cathartic and part of my journey through  life...

So if my posts have hurt or offended any of you, I am sorry.  That is never my intent.  My only goal is to be real, and hopefully one day when L is old enough to read these, provide some understanding and clarification as to why i've made certain decisions in my life.

back at one....

it seems like i've returned to day one of my adult life...
Hell possibly day one of my teenage life too...
Feeling even more lost than i did a year ago....

You see a year ago i was in a daze...  for a while
I just became a widow, but felt constantly reminded that while becoming a widow i was still separated from Sean when this happened.
So did i deserve to be broken hearted still?
Did that devalue my role as his wife, because we were separated?
Would anyone ever love me again?
Odd question i know, but very real...
I remember sitting in the den probably, a day or two after Sean passed, talking to Amir, and telling him that no one would ever love me again....
I mean despite our disfunction (and it was quite dysfunctional) there was no doubt how much we loved each other.  Quite honestly, I always thought that our love would be the death of us.

So why would someone want to marry a middle aged widow and single mom, when they could find someone who was new and fresh, and someone who wasn't damaged and broken.
A year later that feeling is still there... but differently ....

Will anyone that i love, ever love me?
(and this is not the point where I'm expecting everyone to tell me it will happen. just wait, give it time, etc.  this is me venting)

You see i've always had this thing about falling for people who don't fall for me, or weren't exactly good for me...

Call it a fatal flaw, but so true.
They end up being on of my best friends or breaking my heart...
There really is no in between
And the ones who were probably best for me, and loved me i never loved them...

Maybe its the challenge?
idk
But now a year later i still have this hole, a different hole, but a very large hole.
At 32 this is the longest i've gone without a relationship (crazy i know).
Prior to that i think maybe 3 months.....
Its almost i don't know how to be myself and be single...
Call me codependent, but i enjoy having a partner...
Someone to discuss my plans and bounce my feelings off of.

You see when other people grew up they wanted to be a doctor or a lawyer or a singer...

But me, I wanted to be a teacher, wife and a mom.
Thats it.
And more the latter two, than anything else.

You see I enjoy cooking for a husband...
I want to have more babies...
If you look at my love language and personality, i'm a caterer and acts of service kind of person
So when i can't do that, it seems like that purpose is missing
I had a vision for my life....

And now all that seems not only gone, but impossible...

You know i always try to be an optimist and say that you shouldn't speak negativity into reality, so as i write this, my subconscious is like, "this is totally bad juju ash".  but this is currently my reality.

I am back at one, experiencing what feels like should have been my teenage years for the first time...
And it sucks...

I read a quote today that said, "you can't accompany anyone ins life, until you can be that company for yourself..."

But how do you do that...
I've never had to fill that roll for myself...
I'm great at being a girlfriend, a mother and a wife....
ITs all I've ever really known.
So how do i accompany myself?
I'm not even sure i know what it means to accompany myself...

All i know is that in this moment, with a million people around me i feel very alone.
And i just keep waiting for that person to find me...
Someone who will take my heart and take care of it like their own
and love me despite my frayed and damaged edges
because ultimately i feel like i have so much to offer and no one to give it to

nothing seems to describe it better than "Make it To Me" by Sam Smith

My mind runs away to you
With the thoughts I hope you'll see
Can't see where it's wandered to
But I know where it wants to be

I'm waiting patiently though time is moving slow
I have one vacancy and I wanted you to know that

You're the one designed for me
A distant stranger that I will complete
I know you're out there we're meant to be
So keep your head up and make it to me
And make it to me

So sick of this lonely air
It seems such a waste of breath
So much that I need to share
So much to get off my chest

I'm waiting patiently though time is moving slow
I have one vacancy and I wanted you to know that

You're the one designed for me
A distant stranger that I will complete
I know you're out there we're meant to be
So keep your head up and make it to me
Make it to me

Split Personality....

I've alluded before about how at times I feel like I have to have "split personalities" being a widow.  This  has definitely been the case the last few days...

As we get closer to Sean's Angel day i feel like these feelings intensify more and more... 

The days and weeks leading up replay through my mind and they were incredibly angry and negative.  Definitely not the last memories of Sean that I would like to have for myself or Lani.

Often i think maybe she's forgotten most of it, because I try not to dwell on the negative with her, but occasionally she will mention something, and it verifies just how much she really does remember.

The bigger conflict, is while he wasn't always the best husband, HE WAS AN AMAZING DAD.  So I don't ever want my resentment to tarnish her memories and view of him. It leaves me feeling convicted pretty often.  I mean the Bible says we should honor our husband and how do you do that when you have resentment towards that person?

I often find myself asking Sean (in my mind, i'm quite aware that he can't respond)

Was it really worth all of this?

Did you really want to leave Lani without a dad?

Why couldn't you have just gotten your shit together?

Weren't we worth the fight?

Did you really want someone else to walk her down the isle or escort her to the father daughter dance?

Its almost like my initial anger at God and others, has now moved just to Sean. So while i should be planning a way to celebrate his life, I'm just pissed at him and thinking why should I celebrate this? This isn't a happy occasion...

And then i'm reminded because of Lani.  

Because she deserves to celebrate her dad and her happy memories

And as her mom its my job to insure that.  

Sometimes i find myself reflecting on my wedding day...

specifically this moment... I've never shown anyone these particular pics because of the memories that are attached to them for me... 

I had bent and broken a bobby pin fully in half and thought it was a sign from God

I began to ball uncontrollably.

 I was sweating and starting to hyperventilate.

I remember my cousin Arry fanning me and telling me it was just cold feet.

And my friend Letty searching for a fan and something for me to drink.

I had gone into a private room away from all the other bridesmaids and just cried.

Thoughts were going through my head like crazy.

A few nights before Sean had threatened to call of the wedding and  now I was considering the same thing. 

Over 500 guest...

My parents had spent...  well lets just say they could've bout a new home..

Caterers...

Flowers...

Family... Friends who traveled from all over

Sean...

I would be disappointing everyone... 

I just kept thinking does everyone feel this way before they get married, or was this the sign i was asking God for?

But all i could think to myself was what the gypsy in NOLA told me...

(she gave me a reflection of my past current and future... not sure i've ever shared the entire story on her... maybe that will be a future post...)

"You are worried whether or not you should really get married...

you two are meant to be, but this will not be easy...

thing will start out good, and then they will get bad, and eventually they will be really bad (specifically after your daughter is born)...

but you must stick through it, and in the end it will all be worth it"

When i first told Sean, he told me to never listen to "sleuth sayers" but later through out our marriage he would say that we were just going through the "difficult time" and eventually we would both be happy. 

I remember thinking that day... Do i want to knowingly put myself through very hard times.

This would be my last chance to back out, because i believe marriage is for life.  

But she said it would be be ok, and eventually i would have my happy ending, so i would just have to go into things knowing that one day things would be VERY difficult, and eventually there would be a light at the end of the tunnel

So my Mom wiped my tears away

 and walked down the isle.

Crying and shaking, and my God Father telling me that he had me, and i was ok.  

(my dad had already walked 2 daughters down, so he was ok with my God Father walking me down)

So we said our vows

And began what we though would be our fairytale with a looming hard time in the future

Little did either of us know that the hard times wouldn't be us together but me alone. 

So as I sit here and reflect on the past 8 years (15 all together) especially the last year, i find myself constantly questioning did i make the right decision that day?

And if i knew what all "very difficult" meant would i have still gone through with it...

but then i see this face and i know the gypsy was right... 

all the pain,

all the heartache,

all the confusion...

all the tears...

and all the laughs and love that happened too..

She was worth every second of it

Why the holidays are so hard.....

Do you really want to know why the holidays are so freaking hard for single people, especially the newly single?  (I've never been an oldly single so it might be the same for them too...)


It seems like you are walking through one of those freaking commercials that pop up at valentines day...
you know the ones...
That have you crying on the couch like fml, with a box of tissues and a glass of wine (or a bottle but thats neither here nor there lol)

And you're over here feeling like your life could be one of those freaking antidepressant commercials... you know where that damn ball is asking you all those questions n the rain....


do you feel sad?  YES
are you lonely? YES
do you find yourself crying? YES!!!!!

 you get the picture...



It seems like it would be easier just to hide in the house all day, but then movies like The Notebook come on... or better yet P.S. I love you.... and you're like really???? lets just rub it in...

So the next holiday rolls around and you think ok, lets go out with the fam or friends.  Then you look around and everyone in the place looks like they are from Stepford...
Happily in love...
holding hands
2 and a half kids...

...everything you thought your life should and would be at this point.

Now I am quite aware that things aren't always as perfect as they appear, hence the beautiful couple across the dining room, that was arguing in the parking lot when we left... hell I was once that couple, so I'm quite aware that looks can be deceiving.

but then you think to yourself, at least there was someone to argue with...
Its that whole negative attention is better than no attention mentality/ battered woman's syndrome. And there is no need to judge I already know how messed up it sounds, but this is about truthfulness and not what sounds good to others...

So you start to think to yourself why is everyone else's life so perfect and fairytalesque, and mine is so.... well a "series of unfortunate events"?

Am i a bad  person?
Am i not deserving of a happily ever after?
Am i not pretty enough?
Skinny enough?
funny enough?
smart enough?
Christian enough?
just Enough?


And  don't worry this is not a pity party, its just the reality of how holidays feel when you are alone. And it's not like you're alone in being alone, according to the Washington Post 50.2 of american adults are single... I guess just none of them are at the restaurant we went to lol...

So the next time one of your single friends are sad during the holidays please understand that it really is a struggle.  And while tomorrow will be ok, today just sucks...

410,400 minutes....

its been 285 days since Sean passed away...  Thats 410,400 minutes.... 24,624,000 seconds.......

and sometimes it feels like yesterday...

Most days are good days.  That doesn't mean I don't miss Sean or the hurt isn't still present, it does mean that days are much more possible then they were in the beginning.

But that doesn't mean that there aren't bad days either.  

In fact some days are absolutely debilitating. 

And I say this because people think grief is path that looks exactly like this...

 

However, it actually much more like... 

A constant cycle between the seven stages, that lasts a lifetime, not just the week of the funeral.

And i say this because over the last 9 months and 11 days, I've had lots of people comment on where they believe i should be in this journey.  

"Do you think you are ready for ....."

"why haven't you...."

"don't you think you should..."

And the answer to all of these is "NO"

No you don't have the right to judge and decide where I should be on this journey, and even more so grief is not a straight 7 step, one week, one month, or one year journey.

You see when you get married, your bond with your spouse becomes infinite; especially when you have children. It goes for a lifetime. So twenty years from now the answer to these questions will still be NO.  I will never be ready... I will never know what to do... I will never know the right answers... and despite any struggles we've had i will always miss my husband and my friend, but each day I get a little stronger and move a little further in my journey. 

So if it seems like i have high and lows and great days and bad days, its because that is the truly what grief looks like.  

Not whatever text book simplified journey you thought it should be ... maybe i'm a tad bit in the angry phase today too...lol... and thats ok, because in grief we laugh, we cry, we smile, we get angry, and we do it all over again. But if we are able to do all of this then that means that we are still living, and that is truly 99.9% of the battle