8 years without you.
july 2026
July has been filled with both love and heartache. I have been swirling around, making memories with family and friends, busy planning and preparing for all the incredible events and connections ahead. But July will never be just a busy summer month. This month holds both my mother’s birthday and death anniversary. The celebration of her existence and the tragedy of her goodbye. On the morning of the anniversary, July 15th, I wrote this through lots and lots of tears:
Our Aunt Debbie (my mother’s older sister) passed away from cancer that evening. To know that these two women, bound together by blood, laughter, life, trauma, and survival, left this world on the same day, 8 years apart. July 15th would again mark the day that someone felt peace for the first time in their life.
I hope their 7-minute replays were nothing but the love. My mom is finally reunited with her big sister, and wherever they are now, no one will hurt them ever again.
And happy early 64th birthday to my sweet momma. Please do me a favor and smile at a stranger on July 30th in her honor <3
updates & events
August 30th is National Grief Awareness Day, making August quite a full month. I am so honored to be a part of these in-person events.
INFO & LINKS
Use CODE: sararian26 for 15% off tickets!
GRIEF POETRY WORKSHOP SERIES
UPDATE: only 3 spots left
SOLD OUT EVENTS:
Sex after Loss: The Unspoken Side of Grief co-hosted with Barri Grant.
My Grief in Ink tattoo event sold out within 5 hours, and I am still in shock. Don’t worry, I hope to do it again!
OTHER EVENTS:
I was chosen to present about Sex & Grief at the 2026 North Carolina Sexual Health Conference. Wish me luck!
thank you for reading and supporting.
with love,
sara rian
My Mums anniversary is 16th July - first one this year. Brings a strange sense to Summer. Thank you for sharing and for your beautiful poetry, it has got me through these awful months ❤️
Thank you for this, the timing was exactly right. My mom is still here, but she is in the process of leaving…slowly. The shadows have grown so long and stretchy-spindly. The anticipatory grief is almost unbearable, coupled with another major loss I experienced about 6 months ago. The last few days have been exquisitely painful - I’m enduring grief from a lot of directions at the moment. Reading this helped. Thank you. 🙏