As my husband and I sat parked in our car at one of my favorite locations to play Pokémon Go, I watched a young, smiling couple with their two children playing in the multicolored fallen leaves. I opened my passenger window to feel the warm, gentle breeze and smell the river nearby.
The mother raked up a pile of leaves with her hands and then placed her toddler in it to take her picture. At the same time, the father collected leaves and threw ...
You have permission to grieve a suicide loss
While we never wish for anyone to relate to the reflections we share about suicide loss, this blog gives us an opportunity to connect with survivors from all walks of life and in many corners of the world. Suicide loss is traumatic and complicated. And because of that, the accompanying grief journey is also complex.
Suicide is shocking. It feels like a rug was pulled out from under you – at best. Suicide loss often comes without warning, ...
Moving Beyond “Why?”
The infamous question we as survivors of a suicide loss ask ourselves, "why?" "Why would they do this?" "Why would this happen?" "Why didn't anyone prevent it from happening?" I could write an entire book on the "why" questions that I have asked since losing my dad to suicide. Problem with "why" is that there aren't any concrete answers. There is no magical equation that will give us a definitive answer. The one and only answer lies with the one ...
Close or Strained Relationship? Suicide Loss Hurts
Like many survivors of suicide loss, I have spent the majority of time following my dad’s death invested in the way he died over the way he lived. For six years, I've analyzed his last few months and questioned if I could have done things differently.
Recently, I was sitting with a friend when she said something that struck me… Navigating a strained relationship with her own father, she said, “I’m envious of how close you were with your dad ...
Remembering my dad in an unexpected way
"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about." - Plato and Ian Maclaren
Later this summer I will mark six years without my dad, but I am amazed by how often I am still connected to him - and the loss - through everyday life experiences. One of those events was so strong for me that I need to reflect on it.
My dad was a judge in my hometown, having spent more than 30 years on the bench at the time of his death. ...
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