Heather Isaacs

My initials spell "Hi."

Hi.

grief

  • The Day After

    In September of 2001, I started my graduate studies at a liberal Presbyterian seminary in Northern California. I was a 24 year-old Seventh-Day Adventist woman looking for a place to pursue a theological education beyond the conservative boundaries of my home denomination which did not recognize women’s ordination. But surprisingly, I soon found myself becoming… Read more

  • Watermelon Holes

    Every summer when watermelon came into season, we often kept one on the counter to be eaten, slice by slice, over the course of a day or two. My Mom, brother, and I all ate watermelon like normal people: in tire-sized rounds or half-moon ends. But my Dad had the mind-boggingly frustrating habit of digging… Read more

  • Ash Wednesday

    Six years ago, on an Ash Wednesday, the day in the Christian liturgical calendar that marks the beginning of Lent, otherwise known as the 40 days prior to Easter, my family received its own kind of ashes in the news the doctor gave my Dad. “Vascular dementia.” This is the diagnosis my Dad received that… Read more

  • Even the North Star Changes

    Did you know the North Star changes?  I did not know this until a year ago this past December when my friend DeAnna presented me with an extraordinary gift: an artisanal chocolate Advent calendar celebrating constellations of the night sky. What made this gift extraordinary extended well beyond the conscientiously sourced and exquisitely crafted confections.… Read more

  • Grief, Joy, and Thanksgiving Leftovers

    This is my family’s third Thanksgiving since my Dad died, our third without him in the kitchen, without his fingerprint on nearly every dish that we eat, without him speed-talking his go-to prayer that none of us could ever fully decipher. We are without him yet we do our best as a family to not… Read more