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I never asked, ‘why me?’

Picture credit: City Church

You’d think that after losing a son to suicide, that would be my go-to feeling. Why wasn’t it?

I’m not telling you this because I think I am more “noble” than someone else. I’m not. In fact, I wondered if I might be abnormal. Which is possible.

One is that I wasn’t raised in a household where my family made me think of religion as an investment or type of insurance that would earn me extra protection from God in the future. And over the years, I found myself feeling grateful–grateful that I was not exposed to non-stop sexual abuse as a child or born with a rare disease. I wasn’t in a concentration camp or the one who was abducted on spring break.

Every time I heard someone’s story, I thought of myself as lucky to have dodged that bullet. And perhaps over the years, having survived a brain tumor, broken neck, attack at knife point, a flesh-eating infection bacteria, I just knew better than to default to that question.

Once I lost something precious, it was hard not to default to the, “Why not me?” Loss made me feel more vulnerable to losing someone else. It was like the gatekeeper was gone and it all became possible. That’s the one I have had to fight.

Published by

Anne Moss Rogers

I am an emotionally naked mental health speaker, and author of the Book, Diary of a Broken Mind and co-author with Kim O'Brien PhD, LICSW of Emotionally Naked: A Teacher's Guide to Preventing Suicide and Recognizing Students at Risk. I raised two boys, Richard and Charles, and lost my younger son, Charles to addiction and suicide on June 5, 2015. I help people foster a culture of connection to prevent suicide, reduce substance misuse and find life after loss. My motivational mental health keynotes, training and workshop topics include suicide prevention, addiction, mental illness, anxiety, coping strategies/resilience, and grief. As talented and funny as Charles was, letting other people know they matter was his greatest gift. And now the legacy I try and carry forward in my son's memory. Mental Health Speakers Website. Trained in ASIST and trainer for the evidence-based 4-hour training for everyone called safeTALK.

4 thoughts on “I never asked, ‘why me?’”

  1. Your courage and determination to help others is such an inspiration.
    The world would be a much better place if we all could use our pain like you do. So proud of you!

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