Grace and Grief

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Grace and Grief http://abc7chicago.com/video/embed/?pid=2572311

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/obituaries/ct-met-kenneth-hutchinson-obituary-20171024-story.html

My husband, Kenneth Hutchinson, suddenly passed away on October 18, 2017. I️ am now a single mother of four children ages 11, 10, 8, and 6 years old. I️ am grieving and also surrounded and upheld by the grace of God. These posts are to document my process and hopefully be a blessing to myself and others.

10/13/2026

✨“But I wasn’t done loving you.”

I remember writing those words in my journal shortly after the loss of my husband. ✍️

✨ As Tim Ross puts it so well here, I was left holding all the love I had for my spouse, yet he was no longer present to receive it.

As painful as that felt, understanding that the pain I was feeling was really love helped me make sense of my reaction. It helped me stop fighting the grief and accept that it was a normal, natural, and healthy response to loss.

✨ As I processed those emotions over time, moving through different stages and phases of grief, I came to understand that the pain was not permanent. ❤️‍🩹

Sending love to anyone in a season of holding love that has nowhere to go. 🫂

✨ Where you are makes sense. It is necessary. It will also not last forever.

One day, you will find that the love in your heart has remained, but the pain once attached to it has faded. ❤️

10/11/2026

✨Last month ended with one of the best birthdays I have ever had. 🥰

✨One of the things that made it so special was how I felt so grown.

Yes, I said grown. 😂

✨I know. I have been grown for quite some time. However, having experienced such a huge loss and having to begin again at that time had me feeling like a little girl for years.

✨Everything as a new widow and new single mom was so new and daunting. I felt like a novice experiencing years of adjusting and learning how to be someone new.

✨But, this year hit different.

✨I took time to recognize that with time, and after lots of stages and phases, I gradually shifted into someone more experienced. For example, I knew exactly what I wanted to do and where I wanted to go for my birthday. And, I did just that.

✨I never felt so grown. Not perfect, just more mature. Unapologetic. Settled. Grounded. Grown.

✨ I am very much thankful for growth, for all of you, and for all God has done in, through, and all around me. ❤️

SEPTEMBER 🍁✨Not only does this month bring the beginning of the beautiful fall season, but it is also my birthday month!...
09/14/2026

SEPTEMBER 🍁

✨Not only does this month bring the beginning of the beautiful fall season, but it is also my birthday month!🎉

✨I kicked off this month by attending the debut Candlelight Concerts by Fever featuring the best of Ms. Lauryn Hill with one of my besties. It was such a good time and so nostalgic!

✨I was excited to run into other friends at the concert and to hang out in Chicago afterwards.

✨Incorporating good times with people we care about is such an essential aspect to our overall health. It can also be a strategy for healing and cultivating a life you love.

✨Everyday should not be about the grind, fam.

✨I pray this fall, you make the time to do what makes your heart glad, to spend time with your people, to rest, and to enjoy.🍁

✨You deserve that. You need that.

❤️ liveboldlyafterloss

09/14/2026

Loving this post by Taylor Nardone. 🔥

✨Sometimes we can’t see our way forward, fam.

✨Even when we lack clarity, God still has a plan for us. He knows the way we take. He has a next step, another door, and a path forward. ➡️

✨Fam, I cannot tell you how many time God has made a way out of no way for me, just when it looked like I was out of options. 🙌🏽

✨I remind you to keep your faith steady,
knowing God has a plan and all you have to do is take the next right step. 👣

09/01/2026

✨Grief is a sacred act.

It is so personal and so necessary.

✨Grief can get a bad wrap. Yet, our hearts need the grief process in order to heal after losses and disappointments.

So, it’s okay. Give yourself time, space,
and grace to grieve, process loss, and heal as you need to. ❤️‍🩹

✨Thankful for these words by Dr. Thema.

✨Back to school season is in full swing around here!📚🚌✨Noelle is a junior in college (she goes back in September). Bella...
08/26/2026

✨Back to school season is in full swing around here!📚🚌

✨Noelle is a junior in college (she goes back in September). Bella, a sophomore, Noah, a senior in high school, and Halle a sophomore in high school!

✨I know, that is kind of wild. 🤯

✨On this journey, one of the most valuable skills I have learned is how to hold more than one truth at once.

✨Truth is: this time of year brings both stress and excitement.

✨There are lots of significant goals to accomplish and the older the children get, the higher the stakes get. 😫

✨So, I focus on how far we have already come.

✨ I focus on how much God has already done in helping us get things done together. In helping us be resilient, accomplish goals, and not give up when things didn’t go quite the way we wanted.

✨One of the mindsets I cultivate in myself and my children is that we strive for excellence, but we don’t have to be perfect. We can’t be!

✨We are learners. We are ever blooming, growing, evolving, learning, unlearning, and aligning.

✨I am super proud of how this one has grown in taking responsibility. She saved her summer job money and bought her own laptop! 💻 😁

✨Even with all the hustle of the season, I continue my pressing in towards overall health and I am learning more about brain health. 🧠👆🏽

✨What are you up to on your side of the world?

✨Are you in a back to school season or a different season? What are you focusing on to keep you lifted and moving toward your goals?

08/25/2026

✨We can completely start over after loss. 💐

✨We can become more of who we were created to be than we ever were and experience even greater love, peace, and joy.

✨This is not because we no longer care about who or what we lost. It’s because God restores us and the beauty of the new life we build eventually supersedes the pain of losing the life we had. ❤️

✨It is so very possible, fam.

✨If you agree drop a 💛 in the comments.👇🏽

👉🏽 Amanda Kloots

✨Your girl made it to New Orleans for the first time last week! ✈️✨Listen, NOLA is so rich with culture, history, music,...
08/25/2026

✨Your girl made it to New Orleans for the first time last week! ✈️

✨Listen, NOLA is so rich with culture, history, music, scenery, food, etc. I wish I had more time to experience more of it. If you have never been, it is definitely worth the trip!

✨I must tell you, travel proved to be such an instrumental part of my healing journey after loss. ❤️‍🩹


✨Something about stepping away from my day to day and seeing new places and people would open up my heart, spirit, and and imagination to new possibilities, understanding, healing, and faith for a new start. 🧳

✨Even when you can’t take a trip, a staycation can do wonders.

✨I am still so impacted by travel and I always return with more than just a new experience. I return with fresh perspective and renewed energy.

✨Can anyone relate?

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