Offering hope, comfort and support for survivors of suicide loss.
After losing a loved one to suicide, we are left living in an unfamiliar place. We have changed, and the world around us has changed. In an attempt to gain some sense of normalcy, we search for answers. Not only answers related to the death of our loved one, but answers on when the pain will end. We desperately look for a "how to" book on grief. While there are a number of books to support the grief journey, there isn't one that provide you ...
Why does it take a tragedy to make us aware of what really matters in life? One struggle I have found many survivors face after a suicide is caring about other people's small stuff. Survivors will tell me that they feel anger and resentment towards others who complain about situations that seem so miniscule. We no longer look at the world through the same lens, yet the people around us do. This is extremely difficult as we work to reunite ...
Last month I wrote a post on secondary loss, and how we can cope with the additional loss we face in the aftermath of a suicide. One of the tips I had, was managing our expectations for the relationships we have with others. While I have witnessed and been told stories about people turning their backs on the people who need them most, I have also witnessed people doing extraordinary things. We tend to put a great deal of pressure on the people ...
This quote perfectly describes the grief journey. It demonstrates an continued journey, that doesn't have an end. Our grief journey is ongoing; we will not stop loving or missing the person we lost. While we will get to a point where we are able to integrate this loss into our lives, we will still have days filled with sadness. We often associate these days as a step back in our journey. They aren't a step back. They are reminders of the ...
Finding closure after suicide seems impossible. We don't have time to say goodbye. We don't have time to process that this individual will not be a part of our future. In an instant their life has ended, and their physical presence has been taken away from us. Their pain ended, and ours begins. There is simply no way to prepare for the pain that follows a suicide. While my dad was ready to leave this world, I was not ready to let him go. I ...
