I wrote this piece over the course of three of four months last year, starting shortly after Ana died. It is, in many ways, my post personal and meaningful of essays (it’s also the longest, at over 5000 words). Thank you, Sari and Longreads for the opportunity to share this piece in its entirety. I’m still on the journey I began when I started writing this. The spiral of parental grief is endless. I’m coming to accept that there’s no getting over Ana’s death, not for me. She is a part of my heart forever.
My Daughter Died, But I’m Still Mothering Her – Longreads
In this personal essay, Jacqueline Dooley recalls her difficult transition from being a mother with earthly duties, to becoming one with more spiritual concerns for a teenage daughter with terminal cancer.