by Filippa Araki | Aug 15, 2021
He was wearing a black skivvy and a leather jacket when I met him. He had consistent favourites that he wore: black skivvy, ethnic shirts, jeans. I wanted to have him cremated in that black skivvy but I couldn’t find it even though I looked hard. I gave up and ended...
by Filippa Araki | Oct 28, 2020
One of my dilemmas since my husband died is how to gently navigate my way through the inevitable moments of conversation when I’m not sure whether to explain that my husband died last year. It’s one of the great inconveniences of the English language...
by Filippa Araki | Oct 6, 2020
It’s “the first Christmas”. One of many firsts since my husband died. I somewhat hesitantly go to a Christmas gathering in the valley where I live. I bump into a friend whose husband died two weeks after mine and we start chatting to a woman we know...
by Filippa Araki | Oct 5, 2020
My 15 year old and I are sitting with our friends. A discussion begins about the hairs on my son’s thighs – my son laughingly complains about the way they are growing (randomly) and our friends gently tease him about them. I say “They’re the...
by Filippa Araki | Sep 28, 2020
After my father died in 2017, I had a strong feeling of being stuck in a birth canal. A very tumultuous and life altering journey has unfolded since then that has stretched me to the very edge of my strengths and capacity to cope with life. Eight months after my...
by Filippa Araki | Sep 28, 2020
Three years ago, I had the sense that I was about to go through a huge transition in my life, but I couldn’t see my way forward or what I needed to do to facilitate the process. Then I had a most vivid dream…. I was standing at a kitchen sink washing...
