At some point, we begin to wake up to our present surroundings. Maybe we realize we want a new top, or want to change the way our furniture is arranged. When we wake up to our surroundings, is it a sign of re-entry into the world? An acknowledgment that life really does go on?

Nothing about grief ever goes in a straight line, but when a shift takes place it can be impactful.

What are some things we can do to lighten the load of grief after a death by overdose? We talk about some of the experiences that have helped us shift our response to our children's deaths.

Getting unstuck is an adjustment. We become accustomed to despair, and when that shifts, or we move out of it a little bit, we need to readjust to a new way of thinking about our children and ourselves.

DeAnne and Astrid discuss how their Thanksgivings went.

A theme that came up - how do you know when it's time to make a change? We get so ingrained in our habits that sometimes it doesn't occur to us that we can stop doing the things we've always done. Because we want to!

In the discussion of revisiting old patterns and ways of doing things, we also talk about what it means to let go of something that once connected us to our children, and rethinking what connection really means.