Favorite Tweets 2018 Dateline, 48 Hours, 20/20

Dateline

 

 We really did go on three.

 

 I have a hat like that.

 

 I don't want to hear about the labor pains. Just the baby.

 

 The trip to the Far East turned south.

 

 Did he say DEmacular degeneration?

 

 Farm accidents are as old as the wheel.

 

 Beware of who has master keys.

 

 They visit memorial, have lunch where she worked, go to grave #ritual

 

 Someone just threw her away.

 

 Let's take the license plate off, but leave DNA on the screw.

 

 They’re still breathing. She’s not.

 

 Maybe he didn't take his phone.

 

 Josh was in Wasilla. When I was in Alaska it was light out at 10 p.m.

 

 Dropped out of 8th grade. Pregnant at 15. Doesn’t want to be like addict mom. Pregnant at 17. Next bf leaves her at 6 months for a stripper. Has baby in Fla. Another guy helps parent. #YouCantMakeThisStuffUp

 

 That was a bingo moment.

 

 Zero to murder in 6.5 seconds.

 

 Swimsuit bottom found at his campsite.

 

 They took her booze.

 

 The Durant books were in the background.

 

 The world was her catwalk.

 

 Always try to scrape some skin under your nails.

 

 Your first clue is someone living in a hotel nine years.

 

 I love that courtroom in Montana.

 

 Spitz brought his book with him.

 

 Who says they are scared and terrified while smiling? Poor witness coaching.

 

 #Pittsburgh is the most beautiful city.

 

 Lunch at 2 a.m.?

 

 You had me gone at tobacco spit.

 

 Hit the jackpot when they only held a pair of deuces.

 

 Once her fuse was lit, she became a rocket.

 

 I immediately wondered if the killer knew his dominant hand. Do your homework. He was a lefty.

 

 How do you solve a problem like Marie?

 

 You had the backyard tip. You couldn't bring a cadaver dog?

 

 The pastor is a flimflam man.

 

 She has no $ to fly. Who looks for a poor missing person's car at an airport?

 

 Always wear gloves when inserting batteries. #ThingsYouLearn Cameras everywhere, they check your phone, they find your receipts.

 

 An English teacher does not say between he and I.

 

 All the hair but not on my head.

 

 He is pure evil personified.

 

 I'm glad criminals are dumb. Second show this week where they put the weapon in the back yard.

 

 She is a genius to tell him she has an STD. Kudos. Geaux, girl.

 

 He said he called and she said she was walking. Check phone records. Bet not.

 

 Work hard. Don't say can't. Be nice. Have fun.

 

 History book in your cells. #DNA

 

 Shorts in Green Bay? What month is it?

 

 Cleaning solutions smell. That's a good clue.

 

 I believe, for the third time, we slept together. Or I may have been on the couch.

 

 There it is again. I believe I called the schools. Why don't you remember?

 

 I believe he was in bed. You don't remember the moment your wife died where you found your son?

 

 Mom was worried about her son getting athlete's foot and her son is hazed to death. You can't "fill the cup up" after that.

 

 It’s on my resume. I kill men.

 

 She is a bad speller. Hannibal!

 

 I didn't care if it was a fingernail.

 

 As a policeman, he didn't get suspicious sooner than that?

 

 Go out with a bang. Was pun intended?

 

 The bodies piled up like firewood.

 

 Homeless edition. Trash. Excrement. Rats. Mentally ill. Ex-cons. Disenfranchised. Addicts. Impoverished. 831 deaths in LA County last year.

 

 There was not an earwitness.

 

 This body had to thaw out before an autopsy. They moved the whole freezer. This dead man told tales.

 

 Why? There’s divorce. I say that every week.

 

 Why doesn’t the defendant have to stand when the verdict is read?

 

 Sanchez was fishy the moment I set eyes on him.

 

 The family is a CSI group.

 

 I’m not going to leave you, but I’ll kill you.

 

 He hears a lot of gunshots in the cornfield. #Kensucky

 

 Alone and dying in a room full of people. #TimPiazza

 

 His dad had six wives. He, 2 sons by age 18. Different moms.

 

 Cell phone data can make or break you.

 

 I can’t judge. Jesus is not hiring.

 

 Turnabout is fair play. JD is no prize but friend warns Robin, the wife, about Katie. Katie marries JD. Robin sees Jared. Robin killed. I need a flow chart.

 

 I once worked at a place with cleaning the kitchen rotation. Men were not on the list. Insane. I never used it.

 

 Jim Jones made those coming to Guyana leave their passports behind.

 

 Scholarship, dog park, NICU room named after Emma.

 

 Dumb way to prove a knight in shining armor.

 

 You're never really secure in a gated community. Dude knew code. He used to deliver there.

 

 He does have a distinctive walk like the person who killed the lady at the fitness center in #Midlothian which is still unsolved. Investigate @DatelineNBC

 

 Why do you get out of your car when you see a suspicious person in the neighborhood? #ManInBlack

 

 He kept with his nerd roots.

 

 If he tells you what time it is, look at your watch. #liar

 

 Reginald removed all his clothing and would not get in the lineup. Can't you make him?

 

 15 pairs of Gucci shoes and not a bed to sleep on. Bentley not his.

 

 Two girlfriends. Separately of course. And a third for a later rendezvous.

 

 Nothing is better than crap.

 

 Dumb doc. You didn't know that little tidbit on CPR and drowning?

 

 Mom funeral date was their "wedding" date.

 

 Looked like her obit was on tombstone.

 

 Nine-hour facelift?

 

 What are the chances that you and her stay in the same hotel in the same room at the same time and not knowing each other?

 

 GPS coordinates are in iPhone emailed photos.

 

 Dramatic graphics and music in intro. Nurse kidnapped from $4 million "luxe" home says @JoshMankiewicz Wedding photo open. Odd ransom amount. She is in on it.

 

 My mother’s thank you letters in her effects got misplaced. So upset.

 

 How do you plead not guilty when you confessed?

 

 Got to wonder about her other four marriages. No wonder the daughters are like that.

 

 Fell out of top bunk to get painkillers.

 

 Megyn instead of  #Dateline ruins a good Friday.

 

 Dress rehearsal for a death that was about to happen.

 

 Why is one first degree and one second? They both planned it.

 

 John was not an assembler of care packages. Shocking, NOT!

 

 For once the spouse really looks upset.

 

 She flatlined on social media.

 

 What can you get at Starbucks for $1.45?

 

 He said. She lied.

 

 The proof was in the (banana) pudding.

 

 Sunshine was coming out of their butts.

 

 Bubbles are allowed in the church?

 

 48 Hours

 

 That's a cold case in more ways than one #NovemberWater

 

 I had the hugest crush on Robert Wagner in high school. And #NatalieWood is in my favorites--#miracleon34thstreet #splendorinthegrass #gypsy

 

 They call $10,000 ash tray money in professional sports.

 

 You know when they don't check for their child...

 

 Dad has George W eyes.

 

 Don't tell #Bull it's impossible to read a jury #EtanPatz

 

 You've got enough prayers to hold you up and give you strength.

 

 That's one way to grieve. Sledgehammer the killer's photo.

 

 Due to all the tears shed over Jessie, this town would be clean. We wouldn’t even need for it to rain.

 

 Who would lie about an Acura that had been sold? A murdering idiot.

 

 25 minute ride made in 6.

 

 She still had on lipstick. Therefore, no CPR. He took her diamond. Oh, wait there it is. This killer is a piece of work.

 

 He googled revenge.

 

 A bed in the courtroom.

 

 Dumb woman served him breakfast and then says he didn't eat before working out.

 

 Cadaveric spasm.

 

 Blood doesn’t turn corners.

 

 Second alleged murderer lately that doesn't make suicide shot come from the dominant hand.

 

 Murder over public shame of divorce?

 

 She wrote a letter every day to the governor for nine years.

 

 Widow marries in six months, son killed in car crash.

 

 She was on the rifle team.

 

 It was snowing on the Texas/Mexico border and pigs flew.

 

 This isn't a cold case. It's a frozen case.

 

 Father looking for buzzards :( you had me at murder on #RedRiver

 

 Her uterus was gone.

 

 My father is like coffee. He gets you going. Lifts your spirits.

 

 Business might have failed because she can’t spell President.

 

 Impress a stripper with murder ??

 

 Don't go in the house when the alarm has gone off.

 

 I think this has a #Shreveport connection. Been on #Dateline before.

 

 Note to self. Don't let husband ride behind me in car.

 

 There was one car on the Golden Gate Bridge. Whaaaaattt?

 

 What two men text 62 times? I don't text everyone I know that much in a week.

 

 That headlight splatter was fascinating.

 

 Grown man poses as mother in letter.

 

 You always start close to home.

 

 Let me finish my conversation while you go to another bar with my friends What?

 

 20/20

 

#ABC2020 #nervesofsteel Funeral best 1.5 hours of husband's life, he says.

 

#ABC2020 #nervesofsteel Pilot texts family scripture of the day. Traded schedule with husband.

 

#ABC2020 Did they lose their money if they chose not to fly with a female pilot?

 

#ABC2020 They have my cherished guardian angel photo.

 

#2020wonderboy When the world doesn't face you back. 

 

#2020wonderboy Did Elizabeth Vargas say "seeked" it?

 

#TheDevilInDisguise Do you know where she could have went, says a TV journalist. Smh

 

 Murder Chose Me

 

 Kinda glad female detective got a new necklace.

 

 @laureneboley "We went over to 221."

 

 Poo is a very common nickname.

 

 Gummy bears. M&Ms. #Demery

 

 The box is where I do my best police work. The more you sweat in here, the less you bleed on the street.

 

 Are there not other ways to find Denzel than door to door and a child on the street?

 

 Helps to be cocky to be detective.

 

Favorite Tweets 2018 Religious

 Religious  

 

 Joel Osteen

 

 You can run but not hide from God. THIS IS THE ONE HE LIKED.

 

 You can be pitiful or powerful.

 

 Rise up and walk. It's your time to be free.

 

 We are asking for the possible when God wants to do the impossible.

 

 That wasn’t good luck. That was a good God.

 

 I have a history with God.

 

 It’s not to defeat you. It’s to establish you. #TheFurnace

 

 Don't let people talk you out of what God put in you. Story of his mom wanting a pool and dad said no. But she    bought floaties. She measured. Guy did it for free.

 

 What God has ordained for you won't go to anyone else. You can't override him.

 

 When it doesn't work out your way, it's because God is working it out his way.

 

 Their no doesn't cancel God's yes.

 

 God has already lined up your life.

 

 Whatever God has turned around for you is an opportunity to strengthen others. Make it your mission.

 

 If you are not going to be a blessing, he may not bless you. Give and it will be given to you.

 

 Cancer. Divorce. Addiction. Abuse. Grief. You can help others if you experienced these. You've been healed. Help  someone else.

 

 God calls you what you are before it happens.

 

 Your case is under appeal. New verdict on the way. #overruled

 

 I have pitched my tent in the land of hope. David

 

 You don't have to go after the blessing. The blessing will come after you.

 

 Proving years bring due season.

 

 Praise causes the creator of the universe to show up.

 

 After the pit comes the palace.

 

 Quit taking the bait.

 

 On the other side of a difficulty is a new level of your destiny.

 

 God has ordered my steps. No one can stop me.

 

 In the valley is where room enough is.

 

 The trouble is temporary. The joy is permanent.

 

 You don't have to fill God in.

 

 Don’t let people contaminate your soil. Get rid of them. God will give you people that will push you up and not down.

 

 God is surrounding what is surrounding you.

 

 Everything you went through deposited something on the inside.

 

 God is recalculating your route.

 

 Take your seat and God will work. Be still. Lean not on your own understanding. Put your feet up. The enemy will do everything to keep you from being seated.

 

 Lame people can’t help lame people up. Stay away from enablers.

 

 Feed your history or your destiny.

 

 Don't keep swimming across an ocean to help someone who won't cross a puddle for you.

 

 Look up and listen up.

 

 I am reaping a harvest from seeds I didn’t plant.

 

 Home court advantage is 15 points. Knowing my father was there made me play greater.

 

 The saints of old cheer us on.

 

 Seeing your faith activates His power.

 

 You will come into suddenlys.

 

 Don't have a limited vision.

 

 A slingshot with a blessing is more powerful than a tank without.

 

 God's delivery service is active and on time.

 

 Pray and follow up with expectancy.

 

 The healing is en route. The miracle is in motion.

 

 In buffering, reconnect to your source.

 

 God knows how to make you unappetizing to the enemy.

 

 Reign is in your forecast.

 

 You've got to keep your lid on.

 

 God will be your vindicator.

 

 Trouble can be transportation. God will move you where you need to be.

 

 When you are good to people who are not nice to you, your foundation is going down deeper.

 

 I am under construction.

 

 God has it all. He makes streets of gold.

 

 In silent times, God is getting me prepared.

 

 David Jeremiah

 

 I am under the spout of blessings.

 

 Don't curse, rehearse or nurse evil. Reverse it.

 

 We are living in the parentheses of his patience.

 

 God created the earth in seven days. He’s been working on heaven for a very long time. Can you imagine what it will be?

 

 The Lord never says well done good and FAMOUS servant.

 

 Busy can stand for Busy Under Satan's Yoke #MakeTimeForGod

 

 God is never in a bad mood. Hebrews 13:8.

 

 Family promise box is so cool. Joshua 1:9. Psalm 50:15. Isaiah 41:10. James 1:5. 1John 1:9. Give me a promise on which I can stand. God does not change.

 

 He steadies our nerves and purifies our motives.

 

 Gabriel did the ultrasound. Told Mary she would have a son. I'd rather be Gabriel than Michael. He always brought good news.

 

 Switch power sources and rely on God's transformer.

 

 He is preaching on Joseph. Begins with child was to play him at school, but got the flu. They wrote him out because it was late. Few people noticed.

 

 Christian comedian kept annual silver dollar from grandpa because: it was the best that he had to give.

 

 Use the what interrogative. What are you trying to teach me?

 

 God calls and equips.

 

 God sits on a throne in heaven but dwells in all. The throne is always occupied.

 

 No such thing as luck. Everything must pass through His fingers first.

 

 We need to walk around with our hands up in the air, victorious.

 

 The narrow way has speed limits and guard rails.

 

 Face a need and you will get a provision.

 

 The Bible describes Goliath by physical strength, but David by spiritual strength. Goliath was 9 feet tall. Can you imagine his voice?

 

 Before you close your Christmas card note, mention the greatest thing God did for you this year.

 

 Jesus loves to speak about being a shepherd.

 

 They found the Bible of Desmond Doss. He was an overcomer. We are not undercomers. We are overcomers.

 

 I'm going to sign the bottom of the paper. You fill in the top part.

 

 Our perspective of faith needs enlarging.

 

 We have trusted people we never met. Think airlines.

 

 We belong above the circumstances. Not under the circumstances.

 

 The past and future are thieves.

 

 Progressive is dumping prayer and proactive is relief.

 

 Peace occurs 400 times in the Bible. With and of God.

 

 God doesn't increase you to increase your standard of living, but your standard of GIVING. If you give more to the Lord, you give less to the government.

 

 Storage facilities didn't exist in the 60s. Look at them now--50,000. Billions of catalogs are sent out. #YouCantTakeItWithYou #BeAGoodSteward

 

 Mark Twain’s daughter on a trip they took : “Papa, you know everybody but God, don’t you?” My heart just sunk. He took his name because it meant 12 feet deep.

 

 Go through life with the son, not under the son.

 

 When you hit a hard situation, you can’t google spiritual warfare. Satan doesn’t say I’m coming on Tuesday.

 

 Dope and alcohol leave you empty. Stuff Jesus in your being.

 

 If parents are not monitoring the Internet, movies, music and friends, you are setting the enemy free.

 

 Present yourselves to God.

 

 The bible is a paradise of glory, river of pleasure.

 

 On the way to heaven you are going to get an extreme makeover.

 

 Jesus is the greatest overcomer who ever overcame. Whatever he says he'll do, he does.

 

 Let me be Easter for you. Soldiers, seal, stone, sepulcher empty, shroud remains, scars, sightings.

 

 As Baylor chaplain, he learned in two years that Christians have strength that puts sorrow in a different place.

 

 The stone was 4,000 pounds. How was Mary going to move it?

 

 Mark is a man of action. Immediately is used in his writings everywhere.

 

 God is able.

 

 You are not a self-made man. God gave it to you.

 

 There aren't any pockets in a shroud.

 

 Stand-up people get promoted.

 

 Has God given up on America or has America given up on God? The latter.

 

 Cemetery comes from the Greek word for sleeping place. In a way it’s like you are at an inn until you go Home. You expect to get up and continue your journey.

 

 God has more info than we do.

 

 Don’t let things pile up like when you were little and your parents had you clean. Take care of things every day. #ToGetToHeaven

 

 The birth announcement of Jesus outdid all of ours. An angel was used.

 

 Know that you need it. Hunger for wisdom. Seek it. Desire it. Listen to it. Do it.

 

 We give awards for speaking, but not for listening.

 

 We all have as much of God as we want.

 

 Doing the right thing without a precedent.  That's wisdom.

 

 Victors over confusion. Not of confusion.

 

 Thank you for what you put in my hands and what you take out of them. #tithe

 

#700Club God owns 100 percent and you get to keep 90 percent.

 

#700Club Pat says go play football in China.

 

#700Club Don't get in a wrestling match with God.

 

#700Club A ring from a bullet as a reminder. Yeah, God.

 

#700Club Forgiveness is not about keeping score but losing count. #70x7

 

#700Club How often do you pray? Just once, but it’s all day long. A doctor.

 

#700Club #ScottRoss wife says I'm a daughter of the king. Makes her husband the king's son-in-law. :) He says the C in cancer stands for Christ, cross, Calvary, commitment and covenant. Wife says one holds up the other when the other is down.

 

#700Club Did not know #DarrylStrawberry was a minister. He said God will rescue, redeem you with his blood and restore you.

 

#DoveAwards Saw all inspirational films except cartoon one.

 

#DoveAwards Take our jackedupness and turn into something beautiful. Cory Asbury

 

#PLUS The value of consistent prayer is not that he will hear us, but that we will hear him. William McGill

 

#BillyGraham Jesus never said PERHAPS this is the way.

 

#GodFriendedMe On hold for 911. That’s sad.

 

#LivingBiblically If anyone tells you this is not a cult, it's a cult.

 

#LivingBiblically I'm pregnant dude. I'm calming up.

 

#LivingBiblically You are so late you might want to take a pregnancy test.

 

#LivingBiblically Who are you, Kramer? Wait outside.

 

#LivingBiblically I should get some more expensive sunglasses so I’d care about them.

 

#LivingBiblically You got lalalanded.

 

#LivingBiblically Aren't parts of the Bible fun? Isn't there like a water park section? Well, there was a flood.

 

#KLove He died for your enemies, too.

 

#KLove Broken colors still color.

 

#MiraclesFromHeaven It's all right, Mom. Not everyone's gonna believe. And that's okay. They'll get there when they get there.

 

A longtime married friend who lost her spouse says she has never been to church without him. How wonderful to have that.

 

Pastor Bill Sutton of Trinity Baptist in McAllen, Texas, says elected officials are ministers of God for the righteous. “I don’t believe any person is in any office that God has not allowed it to be there.”

 

God draws close to us not necessarily vice versa. It's like friends. They want and like the same things.

 

Jesus sees through us and he sees us through. Adrian Rogers

 

Grandstands of Heaven!

 

Just saw TNX God license plate. Love.

 

Waiting on God is active, not passive. It involves prayer, counsel, study, patience and faith.

 

He has the power to satisfy our needs. He always enters in abundance and can give us more than we expect. Sermon

 

My spirit becomes dry when it forgets to feed on you. Sermon

 

St. Ignatius -- Give me only your love and your grace. With this I am rich enough, and I have no  more to ask.

 

Prayer is asking for rain. Faith is bringing the umbrella.

 

Put your money where your faith is. Love it.

 

You’ll be asked were you you? Father Leo

 

Parents say priest told mourners that son may be kept out of heaven over suicide.

 

#LeaveItAtTheCross

 

Who is the Man of the Shroud Episode 2 says there were 372 wounds on the back of the body.

 

St. Francis tamed a wolf. He had foot wounds, but endured. The Pope ordered that his blind eyes be operated on, which meant cauterizing his temples with hot irons. Francis claims to have felt nothing at all when this was done.

 

On the value topic, a rosary may not be so in the way the world measures it, but a priest said it was a keepsake from his dear grandmother. He left law and things thought valuable to serve God after tugging the cord. Gave up material pursuits. Received much more in spiritual benefit.

I always leave a funeral with a message

 

I have attended more funerals and visitations this year over any other. Or was one degree away from the death of someone. The average age of the these 25 males under 72 who passed away was 61.8. It was 66.8 for six women--mothers of friends and three friends.

I always leave a funeral with a message.

--The disciples had a journey during the Great Commission. The Israelites left Egypt. Ours is eternal life.

--Perhaps my time seems too brief. Don't lengthen it now with undue grief.

Both are lines from the death of two friends' mothers.

I've listened to I Believe by Ronnie Dunn and heard the "When Tomorrow Starts Without Me" poem by David Romano.

I've heard scripture. Sometimes the time of death is confusing to us like someone making plans he was unable to fulfill, but he isn’t disappointed. Heaven has trees, rivers, cities of gold and radiant light. If God were to give us all a view of heaven as clear as that which people are seeing now, we wouldn’t hang on to this life the way we do. Nothing on this earth can compare--Corinthians 2:9. People who have seen heaven don't want to come back. In that eulogy, someone said his mom didn't see her brother in her near death experience. Revelation 21:4 played a part in this message. Why would there be tears in heaven? That's why. Only two things in this life should remain important: To know Jesus. To make sure those we love know Jesus.

I learned about Welcome, Sister Death. St. Francis devised a ritual for friars to follow (Transistus or Passage celebration on Oct. 3).  By calling death sister, Francis reminds us that Christian faith has a sacred message about death. Because of our sharing in the death and resurrection, death is not the absolute end of life, but the end of life in the world and the beginning of life in the next.

I've mused over "I've never been to church without him" from someone who lost her husband. And how President George H.W. Bush and Barbara have shared Christmas together for 73 years.

I've read obituaries. This one I love. The kids recall times on the family boat that broke down regularly. The dad, an optimist, placed a sticker on the boat that said, "Nothing about this sucks." And he has submitted an address notification with a forwarding address of Pearly Gate Way, Heaven.

From celebrities and philosophers on how they handle death:

Jaclyn Smith said tears put you in contact with that person. She cries every day over her mom after eight years and doesn't even go to Houston, her birthplace.

Teddy Roosevelt lost his wife and his mother on the same day when he was 25. He went to the Badlands to escape his depression by riding his horse 15 hours a day.

Chris Hurst ran for office after his TV reporter girlfriend was gunned down on the air.

Ann Graham Lotz said her husband's death was not an accident. It was God's foreordained time for him to move to his father's house.

For Brandon Burlsworth, the subject in "Greater," this message is summarized in the final scene - his headstone. The epitaph reads: "Our loss is great, but God is greater."

Lauren Daigle describes her earthly loss, but heavenly gain is in this video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3t2Tf1Dqf7w&fbclid=IwAR2zmIsR-cwlfYtzSNrliB8jrvKPi4ndh1_auuTRm5sB2mnxwGyQ97ObsUs&app=desktop

Don't you wish they could beam down, Sandra Bullock asked, thinking of her mother who she feels like had a hand in her adopting children. You can't bring them back, but they are not erased.

You have to honor that memory and keep it alive, Luke Bryan explained on his family losses.

I heard it said that Robert Kennedy still lives in every courageous politician who seeks a newer world and enters the moral conflict. He still lives in every ripple of hope and every blow in the walls of oppression and resistance.

Some of our best living is done through the people we leave behind. Della Reese

You don't have to be famous; you just have to make your mother and father proud of you. Meryl Streep

Dak Prescott does the things his mother told and taught him.  The Ready. Raise. Rise. cancer campaign initiative his mom envisioned lets her goodness live on.

                Skier Jon Lillis wears his brother's shoes every day and a pendant with his ashes.

Food can be a wonderful thread through time, says Jennifer Nettles. It is living history. When she makes her great-grandmother's hoecake, she feels connected to her. It is transportive, a time machine. She remembers the kitchen, her hands in flour and her skill at flipping the pan.

Roma Downey went to her mom's grave and saw a butterfly the first time. Now, it's a reminder of God's love.

Friends show their love in times of trouble, not in happiness. -- Euripides (Their right words cushion you with love).

The hour of departure has arrived, and we go our separate ways, I to die, and you to live. Which of these two is better only God knows. Socrates

Grief is an excruciating emotion. What you have lost will never come back. A part of them goes, a part stays here. How can you put those qualities of that person in your behavior? Embody those you appreciated.  Try not to suppress your pain; it will only heighten it.

Grief is somewhat like major surgery. In time, the pain will lessen, but the scars will remain. Eventually you will laugh as you laughed together. Pray for the deceased. My mom encouraged me to have friends in heaven. Let the deceased be spoken without a shadow of a ghost.

There is in Christian faith the antidote for sorrow. You loved. Why don't you entrust the loss to His love? They could no longer be in our arms, but they were in someone’s arms; their own angels in heaven hold them for the time being.

Grief is unity or disunity. Love or hate. Peace or war. Healing or pain. Embrace or exclusion. One family did a shrine for their daughter at the dining room table with photos, flowers, baby booties and a jar of sand from her favorite place. That is active remembering. A widowed husband still makes his wife breakfast and buys her Valentines. Hope that grief is comforted by the goodness of life and not the reality of death. Do good things. Preserve a loved one's handwriting. I've done this for my parents and grandparents and framed it.

A lady put together an anniversary photo of wedding bands, hearts, his watch, books, love letters and a candle.  She kept a journal noting a funny email, times she helped someone at work, the changing seasons.  She sorted recipes and travel articles he collected.

From Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) magazine: grief takes a lot of energy out of you. Find something that is replenishing to recharge your battery. Have a Memory Bash--at hospitals, hospices, funeral homes, religious groups with those in the same boat. Grief brain is like being drunk. It's hard to be in the moment. Energy is redirected to the new normal. Empathy is the person who is in the hole with you and sees the world from your perspective.

Download the goodgrief app to communicate with others.

In the second year, you become aware of the smaller, daily concerns. No couple friends call.  You will always miss your husband, but you will soften. You need to find something to reinvest in, a counselor said.

A Wall Street Journal article said don't clam up when life brings you down. There is no point in trying to save face by pretending the problem is not there. Don't flash out an emotional Morse Code that all is well. Risk some candor. You'll find it a relief and others will respect it.  Don't playact and invent stories. Have a good-natured conversation. Connect. Be forthright. Be in grief's presence.

Lay aside chronos and embrace kairos. There are two different words that the ancient Greek language used to describe the idea of time. One is chronos, which is the linear time we measure with a clock. The other is kairos, which has less to do with the measurement and quantity of time and more to do with the quality of time. Modern cultures tend to focus on chronos, but some cultures still understand the value of kairos. America, with all of our focus on chronos, has lost track of kairos. We rarely inhabit the moment we’re in because we’re focused on the next moment, the next thing we have to do. 

You cannot get away from who you are or from how you've shaped your experiences. As Salman Rushdie overserved,  those who do not have the power over the story that dominates their lives, power to retell it, rethink it, deconstruct it, joke about it and change it as times change, truly are powerless because they cannot think new thoughts. You must integrate your past into your present. 

A story told is a life lived. Bodie Miller said drowned daughter Emmy will work through him.

Grief is a doorway to the opening of the heart, said Paula D'Arcy, who lost her husband and daughter to a drunk driver while three months pregnant.

Before she died, my world was vivid, safe and full of hope, said a father about his daughter. I had to forge ahead. I had to become more than my former self, despite grief and in honor of love. He has to tackle being there for his son and being asked how many children he has, knowing one is deceased.

A mother had an interesting reply to how she was after her addict son's death. I've never slept so good in ten years. There is something worse than death. Staying up at night after worrying about the whereabouts and well-being of a son who is controlled by addiction. He is resting in peace and so am I.

Petty grievances of irksome co-workers, a child with the sniffles, flat tires pale in comparison after experiencing grief. Not everyone can start a foundation to cure cancer or get a medical degree.  But I try to be less judgmental, a little more forgiving and generous, a little more grateful for the small moments in life. Tracy Grant/Washington Post

Some inspire out of tragedy.

On a Steve Hartman story, a man had a lamp like an eternal flame, a picture on his wife's pillow, visited the cemetery five times a day, and hands out pictures of her tombstone.

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is a top destination in Russia. They take photos and sip champagne while the bride and groom pay their respects by laying flowers at the grave.

Sackcloths were a symbol of mourning in biblical times. It showed heartfelt sorrow for the loss of a person.

While many nursing homes have the funeral home enter through the back door, one did an honor walk. The staff formed a line along the walls to the entrance. This was honoring a deceased resident. This was embracing death. This was sacred.

Though you want the world to slow to a pedestrian pace, the world will be busy on the day people die. Calendar posts are still relevant to others. Material things are left. Arguments won will not serve. Regrets will be resigned to the past. Time is finite and fleeting. --paraphrasing John Pavlovitz

It may not sink in for a while. Some people are going in circles.  It's OK to feel like the shell of the man you once were. These words will come to mind: Hollow heart. Crisis mode. Forlorn, bereft, devastated, jarred, broken, corrosive, empty, crushing, inconsolable, stinging, crushing. Lights are off. You don't have to be a granite cliff, strong and rugged.

Imagine an old-fashioned handcar that railroad workers used in the 17th and 18th centuries to traverse train tracks. Two people would stand on either side and take turns pumping the seesaw-like lever back and forth with muscle power. The back and forth of grief of resilience and vulnerability actually has no rewards for speed. If your handcar moves at a snail's pace, so be it. If it goes backwards sometimes, so be it. Also think of a teeter totter, up and down.

It helps to steer into the wild emotions of grief, as if driving in a skid, purposely setting your course toward them. Grief is a difficult road to navigate, but the detour could be worse.

The above is from a TAPS story, which also mentions grief being compared to winter, dark, overcast, bleak and cold. People withdraw indoors in isolation. But our bodies are not designed for storage of feelings, but expression. Do get ample rest, nutrition, hydration, exercise and health care.

President Abraham Lincoln in a Guideposts story said perhaps his depression may have given him coping skills that helped him accomplish. He lost an infant brother and his mother at 9. When he was 18, his sister gave birth to a stillborn child and died. At 22, friendless, penniless and uneducated, he left the Illinois farm to carve a career as a lawyer. One friend said his melancholy dripped from him as he walked. An artist recalled he had the saddest face he ever attempted to paint. He lost his two sons and dealt with the Civil War. Because he spoke of suicide, he didn't carry a pocketknife for fear of using it. Friends removed razors from his room. What strengths may have been bestowed from this? Jokes and storytelling were his refuge from despair. "I laugh because I must not weep." Knowing his own failings, he could forgive others. He was dedicated to a cause. He was dependent on God. "I am driven to my knees by the conviction that I have nowhere else to go." His treatment included starving, bleeding, dunking in icy water, purging with black pepper drinks, swallowing mercury and applying mustard rubs. He emerged emaciated, exhausted and worse.

But you don't have to. Just remember in heaven, your loved one's crown is overladen with jewels. And your next year can bring you healing and growth, giving and love.