When you lose a child, it changes you forever. And although time doesn’t heal, it does help.
Over time,
Tears of agony become tears of remembrance.
Agony becomes ache.
A hole in the heart becomes a wound with scar tissue.
Denial turns into acceptance.
Despair and isolation turn into purpose and clarity.
Deep depression turns into moments of melancholy.
Helplessness turns into humility.
Love with nowhere to land evolves into a need to give back.
And instead of carrying your child in your arms, you learn to carry him in your heart.
Free eBook Coping Strategies for Grief & Loss
Short, easy-to-read strategies for managing the pain of grief by Anne Moss Rogers, Karla Helbert LPC, and contributing author Charlotte Moyler. Download Now.
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Love this poem!Who wrote it?
Thank you, Amy I’m so flattered. I wrote it. And I put it in my first book, Diary of a Broken Mind. It literally poured out of me one day.
I recently lost a coworker.”jack”. Jack was more than a coworker. He was my brother, my personal angel. He knew what would make me happy and knew how to get out of me what was causing my pain. I wish I could the same for you jack. He left a note and asked his sister to tell each of us that he loved us. He also left a little something to remember him by. It will be a month on July 8th since he took his life and we are still going through the aftermath, but somehow for the first time I can say that I am beginning to see the light. The job ordered a grief counselor for us becausebhevwas loved and he said there are three things you need to have in this world :
Faith. Family and Friends. My friend Jack had two out of three. Thanjs for giving me this platform to share this pain.
Anne I can’t begin to imagine your pain after loosing a child. So many emotions come to surface. Thank you for creating a way to uplift, support and share. God bless!
-Anna
Thank you so much for sharing that story Anna. I am sorry you no longer have Jack in your life.
A truly beauty of expression. Every time I read your articles I feel you are writing my thoughts and feelings… thank you for representing us, the mother’s that can’t seem to put it in words. God bless you Anne Moss
Thank you Joanna.
Anne Moss–As I’ve said before–this is “spot on”! Although I will miss my Mark forever, that hole in my heart has begun to scar and become tougher. That gut punching pain no longer knocks the wind out of me, but gives me the energy to share our story wherever and whenever the opportunity presents itself. Educating families, health care providers, individuals who”think” they or someone they know may be struggling are fair game for hearing from me! We have dealt with the mental health system (or lack thereof) for years and addiction has been part of our lives for many years. Thank you for educating me on the suicide aspect as these three illnesses are a deadly combination.
Thank you for helping others understand that it does change and it doesn’t feel so acute years down the road
Today is the one year anniversary of the death of a friends son who died by suicide. I forwarded this post to her. Of course, I do not know, but hope it will lift her and provide hope that she can go on another day without him. Thank you so much for your blog!!!
Thank you Kelly
❤️
Dear Love Letter From Grief,
Thank you so much for caring enough to explain your motives. You see, I was starting to believe you were the ENEMY. All the ups and downs of extreme emotions – from rage to immobilizing sadness to intense love and then gratitude that Josh is my son back to rage-i was feeling as if I was going insane . Now I understand…. The depth of the Love determines the depth of Pain. So now I’ll go forward , trying to remember that you are my Friend , my constant reminder of my Love for Joshua , my beloved Son. And in time I hope that we can work through all the wide range of emotions and move forward with a new clarity of purpose . Yes Grief, although you will be my Friend the rest of my days I am hoping ( with others )to help make the necessary changes in society So that you won’t need to introduce yourself to other Mothers…..
This is so lovely Diane. I know you are still in the very beginning stages of grief from Josh’s suicide