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Edition November 2026 · The Killebrew journal
Presented by Heather Killebrew · kllbrw.com
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Some days I still feel the weight of losing Dawne as sharply as I did in 2016. Grief did not disappear wh…

A contributor perspective from Killebrew, presented by Heather Killebrew.

Conceptual portrait of Joey resting his crossed, gloved arms on a weathered wooden fence. He wears a brown work jacket over a dark hoodie, with short salt-and-pepper hair and a serious expression. Autumn woodland appears in the background.
Conceptual portrait of Joey resting his crossed, gloved arms on a weathered wooden fence. He wears a brown work jacket over a dark hoodie, with short salt-and-pepper hair and a serious expression. Autumn woodland appears in the background.
Some days I still feel the weight of losing Dawne as sharply as I did in 2016. Grief did not disappear when I learned to keep going. It changed shape. In the silence, I began to picture Wildwood, a tree farm built around remembrance. I want families to have a place to plant a tree, speak a name, and return years later to see how something living has grown. That is the part of the dream I hold closest: making room for love that has nowhere obvious to go. This image is part of that imagined future, not a farm I own today. There is land to find, work to learn, and people to bring together. I cannot undo Dawne's death, but I can honor her by creating something that may help another family carry its loss with hope.
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