Offering hope, comfort and support for survivors of suicide loss.
The holiday season can be a difficult time for those who have been touched by suicide. For me, the holidays are a reminder of my own dad's suicide. I will never forget the phone conversation I had with my dad the night before Thanksgiving, 2011. He wasn't himself; something just wasn't right. While a month would pass before his life ended, I often consider that night to be the turning point in his life. For a survivor of a suicide loss, the ...
Survivor Day is the one day a year when people affected by suicide loss gather around the world at events in their local communities to find comfort and gain understanding as they share stories of healing and hope.
Today, loss survivors will gather around the globe in small and large events while growing together in their grief journey. Each event is unique and offers various programing. Each event site will feature an AFSP produced ...
This week we welcome Karen, who opens up about going from wife to widow in a matter minutes after losing her husband Steve to suicide. Thank you Karen for sharing your grief journey with us.
It’s been nearly a year and a half since I came home to find my husband had hung himself in our garage. In that moment, my brain fractured. I thought he had rigged up some cruel Halloween joke despite the fact that I was looking into the face of the man I ...
Halloween after a suicide loss can be challenging as you become aware of how much focus there is on death. Everywhere you look, death lingers making it incredibly difficult to put your own loss to the side. What was once a holiday filled with laughter and fun, has now become a living nightmare. If this is your first Halloween after a suicide loss, know that you are not alone in the wide array of feelings that exist inside you. Halloween can be ...
The minute I saw the preview for A Million Little Things , my heart sank. I sat there for a minute a little bewildered by my body's response. I write about suicide, I talk about suicide, and I counsel other survivors of a suicide loss. Why did this preview knock me off my feet? Why am I upset by a narrative that follows family and friends that have lost a loved one to suicide? Then it dawned on me. I was terrified that they would get it wrong. ...
