DH drowned, BDE, edited to: a widow’s musings…

amother

Dill

Sun, Nov 12 2023, 9:53 pm

OP,
Hugs and lots of caring.

I’m still careful about Asher Yatzar in your husband’s zechus.

I just want to say - even if the cards are too painful to ready now, please save them. They are priceless.

May HaShem grant you koach and healing and may you feel the care that Klal Yisrael has for you.

TranquilityAndPeace

Sat, Nov 25 2023, 5:11 pm

Our oldest son wrote an article for the local Baltimore paper:

https://www.wherewhatwhen.com/.....n-z-l

He told me: Mommy, you’re getting much more feedback about it than I am!

I responded: Probably because I text and you don’t!

If you’d like to send him feedback, and bonus points if you have a yeshivish male relative who’d like to send him feedback, email me and write “article feedback” in the subject line chayabraunphotography @gmail.com.

NechaMom

Sat, Nov 25 2023, 5:17 pm

TranquilityAndPeace wrote:

So beautiful written! What a giant of a father z”l he had!
May you have lots of nachas from him and your family should have lots of koach and healing! I’ll try to get a male relative to respond by email.

BH Yom Yom

Sat, Nov 25 2023, 7:30 pm

TranquilityAndPeace wrote:

What a beautiful and inspiring article.

Hug

ChutzPAh

Sat, Nov 25 2023, 7:48 pm

Beautiful.

amother

Mistyrose

Sat, Nov 25 2023, 7:51 pm

Really beautiful. Very well written!
May your husband’s neshama have an Aliya and may your children continue to shteig and bring you lots of nachas.

amother

Aconite

Sat, Nov 25 2023, 7:52 pm

I am really inspired. Such beautiful yet down to earth and practical lessons. Thank you so much for sharing. That was a special read.

dena613

Sat, Nov 25 2023, 7:58 pm

Beautiful articles! What a special man!
May his neshama have an aliyah

amother

Hawthorn

Sat, Nov 25 2023, 8:10 pm

Wow wow so beautifully written. Such a special man, may his neshama have an Aliya . So much to learn from him

amother

Lemon

Sat, Nov 25 2023, 8:24 pm

I just read the article in the where what when. So beautiful. He sounds like such a special father and husband

grace413

Sat, Nov 25 2023, 11:02 pm

What a beautiful article!

You must be very proud of your son.

May the neshama of Harav Menachem Mendel ben HaRav Avraham Mordechai have an aliyah and may he be a melitz yosher for his family and Klal Yisrael.

tweety1

Sat, Nov 25 2023, 11:18 pm

Wow wow. What a beautiful article! So well written.

shev143

Sun, Nov 26 2023, 12:57 am

Beautiful article.
I laughed out loud at the shidduch story!
May your husband's neshama have an Aliya.
May you see only nachat from all of your children.

TranquilityAndPeace

Mon, Dec 11 2023, 10:56 pm

A Freilichen Chanukah,

I posted a bunch of heartfelt photos and thoughts today. Maybe I’m crazy for baring my soul on the internet, maybe I’ll delete it all soon.

In the meantime it’s on my whatsapp status and instagram.com/chaya_braun_photography

NechaMom

Mon, Dec 11 2023, 11:04 pm

TranquilityAndPeace wrote:

No, no please don’t stop. You’re an inspiration and so generous for sharing your life story with others! You never know who will gain chizzuk even if their challenges are very different than yours. I don’t have access to either of these right now but I do want to check them out when I do! So please don’t delete YET. Okay, it’s your life and your choice, I just want you to know that we appreciate when you share.
Meanwhile have a freilichen chanuka. May Hashem give you and your family continued koach and happiness! Eat an extra donut for your husband zt”l in his favorite flavor! You deserve it!

amother

Mimosa

Tue, Dec 12 2023, 5:12 am

TranquilityAndPeace wrote:

Thank you for sharing these thoughts, and for letting us know what you need.

amother

Grape

Tue, Dec 12 2023, 7:10 am

Would you mind posting them here? (even if you delete after a few days)
I am not on either of those, but would love to see!

amother

Mistyrose

Tue, Dec 12 2023, 7:14 am

I don’t know how to use instagram so well. I wanted to see what you posted but couldn’t find anything very new. However I really enjoyed your posts! You are so talented!! I’m so impressed with all those baby pictures!! I LOVE your Chanuka picture of your family by the menorah! No words… I wish I could have a picture like that!
And I can’t believe how confident you are with all the families who come to you for professional photos who are not from our community! It’s one thing to be comfortable with your talent inside the community but wow! How did you expand like that and look so natural while working with them?

Editing to update that I figured out how to click on the little baby picture on top to see your recent posts.
Woah… heavy 😢
I don’t think anyone expects you to go back to normal. Not yet. This is one of the most traumatic experiences a human being could deal with. You are right. You need time.
I’m guessing that the people pressuring you to get out are doing it because they truly believe it will make you feel better. They might be right but it’s not the time yet. Now you are still in the grieving and healing phase. Then you will move on. You are an incredibly talented and strong woman so when the time is right you will pick up and take it from there.
You CANNOT plan your entire future right now. These days you have to take it one day at a time.
My friend lost her husband after a tragic accident. At first he was incredibly sick for a long time afterwards. After he was niftar my friend took off from work for a year. She was a hard worker but this is what she needed to do for herself and her family. She wrote a book about her husband. That gave her a certain amount of menuchas hanefesh. She also started speaking about her experience (as a public speaker). She spoke about the accident, the long tortuous journey of taking care of an incapacitated spouse and then losing him. She spoke about her children growing up with so much chaos and then to become true orphans.
Public speaking has done a lot for her. This is her way of dealing with tragedy.
Like you, she had a seemingly regular life before the accident. No one would ever expect someone who seems to have a regular life to suddenly have to deal with something so tragic.
Bottom line- is the kids of course. Helping them feel secure and happy. It takes so much effort when you are in so much pain. That’s precisely why you need some time now.
There’s no right and wrong. What works for one person dealing with grief doesn’t necessarily work for another person.
You seem to be very in touch with your emotions and reality. You aren’t trying to bury your feelings and disconnect. That is very commendable. I think the photos you posted of your husband and family speak louder than any words you can say. So warm and beautiful. So much love and happiness.
I know that during this fresh and frightening time you are just trying to hold on to warmth and happiness that surrounded your family. You need to hold on to the memories that will never be forgotten.
And when the time is right you will start building new memories.
We are all rooting for you. Thank you for giving us a glimpse into your life.
May Hashem make the road ahead easy for you to travel. Heart

amother

Amaranthus

Tue, Dec 12 2023, 7:30 am

Posting it here hope it’s ok because chaya didn’t post here but did post to instagram- I checked out Chaya’s instagram stories and she posts poignantly that what she can use right now is financial security.
OP is an extremely hard working woman who built up her luxury photography business from scratch and needs to know she has a break now to take care of herself and her family’s needs and not feel pressured to rush back to that work.
So let’s do what we can to support a fellow dear Imamother who’s grieving and asking straight up for some help.
https://thechesedfund.com/ay/t.....-fund

Also (she mentioned this specifically) if you are an organizer or an organized person who can make your way to her house and help her clean out her garage ❤️

amother

Mulberry

Tue, Dec 12 2023, 7:38 am

amother Amaranthus wrote:

Posting it here hope it’s ok because chaya didn’t post here but did post to instagram- I checked out Chaya’s instagram stories and she posts poignantly that what she can use right now is financial security.
OP is an extremely hard working woman who built up her luxury photography business from scratch and needs to know she has a break now to take care of herself and her family’s needs and not feel pressured to rush back to that work.
So let’s do what we can to support a fellow dear Imamother who’s grieving and asking straight up for some help.
https://thechesedfund.com/ay/t.....-fund

Also if you are an organizer or an organized person who can make your way to her house and help her clean out her garage ❤️

Thank you for sharing this link. May we know only simchas from now on.