BLOGS
Richard Newman

# 15 Loss, Despair, and Evolution
I lost a friend last week. I’d like to say he was a close friend, but for the last 4 years, all he has done is push people away, and now he’s gone. I had just spoken with him on Saturday. Two days later, someone directed me to his estranged wife’s post at 9 in the evening. I was in total shock. He had sounded good on the phone 2

My Dreams Come in Threes
I have repetitive dreams. I believe they are a teaching dream, and I always wake up confused by the imagery and the subject’s repetitive nature. This has not been a one-time occurrence; it has happened several times since we lost Woody. I’ll describe a few. The first time I remember these repetitive dreams was in September of 2024. I had just met a Native American man in the parking lot

Continuity 2.0-13 It Takes Courage
Courage was a word that had slipped from my vocabulary before I lost Woody. It seems like I was just going through my life, and when I would encounter something difficult or challenging, I’d just find some alcohol and shove the feelings back into my mind. Even though I was facing life’s obstacles, I was numb to the real issue. I didn’t realize how many times I would push something

Continuity 2-12 Learning to Let Go
The above title is powerful to me. There are so many things I could and should learn to let go of. I’m going to try to focus on letting go of the interpretation of my dreaming. I am an every-night dreamer, and during the night, I dream multiple times with different scenes. Right after we lost Woody, I was having the same dream every night. I was having it multiple

Continuity 2.11 Right Where I’m Supposed to Be
I got up this morning and walked into my back yard. The waning moon was shining through a gap in the branches of my 300-year-old oak tree I stared up at it and said to myself, “I’m right where I should be right at this moment”. I looked up in the tree and saw a family of finches, a seagull flew by, then a pair of crows. I marveled at

Continuity 2.10 Dreams
After Woody passed I started dreaming very intensely. I discussed it with my therapist and my PCP. They would listen quietly but could offer me no answers or meaning. At the time I thought that dreams could be interpretive, maybe they can but for me, I was living the dreams when I slept. It was torture. Three months after his passing I started to have the same dream every night.

Continuity 2.9 Haunted.
October has been hard for me. I miss Woody every day, and it often brings me to tears, even though it’s been almost 2 years. It seems that the veil between different life forces merges together in this time of harvest and shortening days. We reap the bounty of our hard work over the summer, and the earth is entering shorter days and longer nights. I noticed this same thing
Ophilia Mandara

Continuity 2.0-13 It Takes Courage
Courage was a word that had slipped from my vocabulary before I lost Woody. It seems like I was just going through my life, and when I would encounter something difficult or challenging, I’d just find some alcohol and shove the feelings back into my mind. Even though I was facing life’s obstacles, I was numb to the real issue. I didn’t realize how many times I would push something

Returning to Our Dreams by Ophilia Mandara
Returning to Our Dreams While many cultures (in fact, most!) have viewed dreams as spiritually and communally significant, mainstream culture and conventional healthcare in the United States tends towards a blasé disposition regarding dreams. As avid dreamers may know, this can often be felt interpersonally. If you’ve ever excitedly shared a dream with someone, only to have their eyes glaze over, you’ll know what I mean. It is a blessing
Wendi Newman

Return to our faith by Wendi Newman
Raising Fath Wendi Newman 5-20-25 looked at my history posting yesterday. I have only written this newsletter a very few times since January 2024. Losing Woody deeply affected me and my family. Today, I can share that part of that experience is now a book. Richard was turned inside out. I was trounced by self-doubt and grief, but also by caregiving. I carried myself and Richard through this last year