One of the main reasons this blog was created was to offer a different perspective on grief. Prior to my dad's death by suicide, I had only experienced death by natural cause. While any loss is painful, the loss of my father introduced me to a deeper pain than I had ever known. In the months following my dad's death I remember feeling so alone. How could anyone TRULY understand the intense emotions I was experiencing within. It simply isn't ...
Changing Our View on Grief
One of the most difficult aspects of grief comes from the belief that it ends. While the pain becomes less intense, it still manifests itself as we continue to live our life without our loved ones. Changing our view on grief can be helpful as it allows us to be sad without thinking that something is wrong with us. If you are like me, then you still have sad days. You have times when you cry because the person you lost is no longer with you. ...
Why I Hate The Stages of Grief
To date, the search words that bring the most visitors to our blog are centered around the Stages of Grief specifically those following a suicide. Every time I see those search terms, I cringe a little. For a couple reasons. One, it saddens me that there are so many people searching for the answer to when their pain will end. Two, because as a society we have given people this notion that grief not only HAS stages, but it has a specified end. ...
Why is Grief Following Suicide so Hard!
Grief following suicide sucks doesn't it? I mean nobody really wants to lose anyone they love, rather it is by natural causes or some tragic manner like suicide. But it happens. Death is a part of life. After I lost my father, I was taken on a journey that I never saw coming. I am a planner; someone who likes predictability. Natural death, while extremely sad, is predictable. When I lost my grandmother, a woman who I spent my life ...
Guilt after Suicide
In the past, I wrote this blog post about the Stages of Grief and how guilt impacted our ability to move through each stage successfully. Recent conversation with a family member after the loss of Blackhawk's assistant equipment manager, Clint Reif, motivated me to revisit the topic of guilt after suicide as many questioned, "How did his family not know?"
If you are a survivor, you have likely become very familiar with guilt after suicide. ...