March is Women’s History Month, and we’re celebrating the incredible women of Lake Norman! From entrepreneurs to community leaders, we honor their strength, resilience, and impact. Join us as we share their inspiring stories all month long.

Lori Miggins is an online health and fitness coach and hormone health advocate passionate about helping women thrive in midlife. After struggling with hormone imbalances and feeling unheard, she found a sustainable way to support her health and now empowers others to do the same. Through fitness, nutrition, and mindset shifts, Lori helps women feel stronger, more energized, and confident in their bodies.

She lives on Lake Norman and loves the lake life, a natural fit since she grew up on the salt water in Long Island, NY. She is a mom of three, married to her college sweetheart, and believes that family is everything. Her mission? To help others create a healthy, fulfilling life they love.

Navigating Grief: Finding Gratitude and Healing Through Journaling

by: Lori Miggins

Losing both of my parents within a few short years of each other, both unexpectedly, were two of the hardest experiences of my life. Grief doesn’t come with a manual, and no one prepares you for the way it sneaks up on you….how a familiar scent, a song, or even a simple phrase can bring a flood of emotions. For a long time, I felt like I was just trying to survive each day, carrying the weight of my loss while the world moved on around me. But through that journey, I learned something powerful: grief doesn’t mean forgetting. Instead, it can become a way to honor and carry forward the love we shared.

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is the importance of finding the GOOD in GRIEF. It may sound impossible at first.  Like how can there be anything good in something so painful? But grief, at its core, is a reflection of love. It truly is a whole lot of love with no place to go. I started making it a habit to take time each day to focus on gratitude. Even on the hardest days, I would remind myself of the moments I was lucky enough to share with my parents. Instead of focusing solely on the pain of their absence, I chose to be thankful for the impact they had on my life which included the lessons they taught me, the memories we created, and the values they instilled in me.

Music has a way of bringing those memories rushing back. Every time I hear a Neil Diamond song, I think of my father. His love for those songs became part of the soundtrack of my childhood, and even now, hearing them makes me feel close to him. At first, those moments were bittersweet, a painful reminder of what I had lost. But over time, I began to see them as gifts and small reminders that he’s still with me in the things he loved, the music that made him smile, and the memories we shared.

Writing became my safe haven. One day I was challenged to write a few happy memories about them and the next thing I knew I was sitting down with a pen and a notebook doing this several days a week.  I wrote what I missed, what I remembered, and what I never wanted to forget. I wrote about my mom spending hours in the grocery store, finding the perfect ingredients to make a meal that would bring our family together. I wrote about the way she always told me to smile and be kind, no matter what. I wrote about my father and the way music connected us, how his favorite songs still bring him back to me in an instant. I’d see a cardinal, I would write about it.  I’d smell her perfume, I would write about it.  I saw a beautiful sunset, I would write about it.

Journaling helped me process my grief in a way nothing else could. It allowed me to keep them close, to give my emotions a voice, and to see how far I’d come in my healing. My grief was no longer heavy on my shoulders, but taking up space on paper that I could keep forever.  That’s why I created the Good Grief Journal, to give others the same space for reflection, healing, and remembering. It’s designed for just five minutes a day, making it simple yet powerful. It’s not about moving on, it’s about moving forward while holding onto the love and memories that shaped you.

If you’re navigating loss, I encourage you to take small steps each day. Find something to be grateful for, no matter how small. Write down your memories so they stay alive in your heart. And most of all, give yourself grace. Healing doesn’t happen overnight, but with time, reflection, and gratitude, you can learn to carry your grief in a way that honors those you’ve lost, while still embracing the life ahead of you.

Want to share your story? Email [email protected] to be considered for our guest blogger series!