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 ...
How Do I live in a World Without Trust?
In the aftermath of a suicide loss, we look around us and question our surroundings. What once looked familiar, now looks completely unfamiliar. The world as we once knew it is gone, and we are forced to become acquainted with a new world. Leeann wrote a beautiful article reflecting on living in a world where you trust nothing. There is more to Leeann's story (as with most of us) than just a tragic loss. Her ex-husband, father of her children, ...
How a Suicide Introduced me to my Authentic Self
I never thought it would take a suicide to introduce me to my authentic self. I speak often about finding purpose in our pain. I get a number of questions following that statement, "Well how in the heck do I do that?" If I knew the exact way believe me, I would share. What I have come to find on the journey that began the day my father died by suicide, is that purpose comes from authenticity. In the midst of the pain, I was introduced to my ...
I’m afraid of the fragility of life
Until my dad died by unexpected suicide, I had only ever lost loved ones to long battles with illness. Like many things in life, this was another of those things I didn’t have to think about before. “Suicide [and sudden loss] doesn’t happen to people like me,” I’d say. Now, I’m acutely aware of just how fragile life can be. Not only am I aware – lately, I’m crippled with anxiety about it.
Part of this has to do with paying too much attention ...
Suicide Innuendos-When to Speak Up.
Innuendos are everywhere. Like most things in life, we become sensitive to innuendos after we personally experience the pain that they cause. I know in my past I have used phrases like, "I want to kill myself" or made a gun with my hand and put it against my head. I didn't think twice about how they would impact someone who had lost a loved one to suicide. To me, they were harmless. Then I lost my dad to suicide, and innuendos appeared ...