Offering hope, comfort and support for survivors of suicide loss.
Today is the two-year anniversary of my Dad’s suicide. I can't believe he died two years ago. Two years is a long time, and I am pretty sure that I think about him all day, every day. He’s always on my mind…not in a crazy way, but I just always think about him. When walking around PetsMart with my Dog yesterday, I saw a “Tommy Bahama” clothing line for dogs and thought of my Dad who loved that brand. I think of him whenever I drive on the Dan ...
Three years prior to my Dad’s suicide, my Mom died suddenly in a car accident. I remember not being able to cry at the wake or funeral, and how so many people kept telling me “it’s okay Lindsay”, as if they thought I was trying not to cry. It’s not that I wasn’t upset, I was insanely upset-- My Mom died suddenly six months before my wedding. For some reason, I was so in shock I couldn’t cry. I cried on my own when trying to fall asleep (when I ...
“It sucks that we miss people like that. You think you've accepted that someone is out of your life, that you've grieved and it's over, and then bam. One little thing, and you feel like you've lost that person all over again.”
― Rachel Hawkins, Demonglass
Sometimes, something as simple as a picture or quote can sum up feelings inside. I came upon Rachel's words and knew immediately what she was referring to. In the immediate days, weeks ...
Denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance make up the five stages of grief. As a counselor, I am more than familiar with these stages, as I have discussed them with individuals who have lost a loved one. As I read through each stage today, I can't help but ask myself whether these stages apply to an individual who has lost a loved one to suicide. I am not arguing that as survivors we do not grieve like others. What I have began to ...
The fact that my Dad chose to end his life was one of the hardest concepts for me to grasp after his death. After talking with my counselor and reading books/articles about suicide, I've taken away that when my Dad decided considered suicide, it wasn't because he did not want to live anymore, it was because he wanted to end his pain.
For months, I couldn't even wrap my head around that idea. How could I when I didn't know my Dad was ...
