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Tag: grief after death of a child

Start by believing you will survive it

In the first few days and weeks following any tragedy, you are in shock. Grief covers you like a lead blanket and you can’t see how you will ever be able to function again.

Your first step? Believe you will survive this. Keep telling yourself you will.

The way I got through each day at first was to tell myself that as bad as it was, it could never be as bad as getting the news my son killed himself. I’ve already gotten that call. The best thing people could do for me is to be there and ask, “How … Read more...

It’s how you survive that counts

In Los Angeles for Christmas with Richard, Me, Randy

We used to be four. Now we are three. I still struggle with that.

I regret I did not have more children. Not that other children would “replace” the one I lost to suicide .  It’s just I feel our family is so much smaller now.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m thankful and grateful for what I have. I know parents who lost their only child. I know parents who’ve lost more than one. People say, “I’d never survive that.” Yes, you would. Because you have no other choice.

So we … Read more...

Grieving parents no longer have these worries

by Tamara Rollison

Logan and his mom, Tamara

Paying a huge college tuition bill.

He never made it to college.

Getting complaints from neighbors of loud noise and craziness.

He did have some humdingers of parties in his day.

Wondering where he is…messing with drugs…receiving a call from jail to bail him out…hooking up with bad people who could take advantage of him…driving recklessly…and all those other nightmarish thoughts that haunt every parent, at one time or another, in middle of the night.

He’s not here to get in trouble.

Becoming deathly ill…struggling with depression and anxiety.

He’s not here … Read more...

I still struggle

Right after Charles’ suicide, the only way I got through those first few weeks after my family left was to remind myself that it will never hurt as much as it did when we got that unbearable news.

A few months later I thought “getting better” or moving forward would mean I wouldn’t think of him every day. Then that thought would frighten me. But I do think of him every day and now I know I always will.

There are so many times I feel like a kite on a tight string in a high wind flapping furiously in … Read more...

The day I realized I was breakable

I realized I was vulnerable when my first child was born.

I realized I was breakable the day I lost my son Charles to depression.

As Charles once wrote, “Life can crush your perfect world in under a second.” And while my life was far from perfect before he died, my world was completely shattered after.

What happened? I had a direction. I had a plan. No one marked the land mines or sent off warning flares.

I didn’t know what breakable was until it happened. I lost any shred of innocence and naiveté I had left. My fairy Godmother didn’t come … Read more...

Is your grief worse than someone else’s?

is your grief worse than someone elses

Let’s face it. Losing a child hurts. Period. It’s devastating. So devastating you wonder how you will go on. You wake up every day for months and then it dawns on you that your worst nightmare is actually true.

It can’t hurt more.

All I can say is that a suicide is a loss like no other and you don’t know it until you’ve been through it.

A stigmatized death like suicide or overdose does carry with it some shame that other causes of death do not. It’s still a “less noble” cause of death for some reason. So there … Read more...

Reflecting on the first 2 years after losing Charles to suicide

the first 2 years after my sons suicide

The first year

Shock. Numbness. Tears. I couldn’t figure out how I was going to live through this. But I made a bet with myself to move forward with my life. If I give up, who carries Charles’ legacy? Who fights for change?

It was frustrating how no one mentioned my child’s name for fear of “reminding” me. Like that’s something I could forget. Did any of us ever think that when we were on the other side? The side that was before our child died?

Probably. Maybe. Hard to remember.

It sort of made me feel like no one … Read more...

6 myths about grief after losing a child

There are lots of grief myths and I’m busting a few of the most glaring ones from my point of view. Many think grief is all emotional symptoms but grief has many physical symptoms, too.

1. You will get over it

It’s not a matter of “getting over it.”  It’s a matter of learning to live without the one you lost. It’s a big adjustment. All your hopes and dreams have been yanked from under you. It takes time to rebuild your life with new dreams and you will always have some hurt over the ones that will never come true.

2.

… Read more...

Grief writes me a love letter

Dear Anne Moss,

I didn’t mean to hurt you. I numbed you at first because I had to protect you. One can take only so much pain and agony at once.

I watched you in your agonizing moments knowing that these would be building blocks to emotional healing. You suffered under my weight and tried unsuccessfully to lift it yourself when you got tired of it. But I do have a mind of my own and just when you thought you couldn’t take another minute, the weight would lift.

At first, you thought getting better meant getting past me. But then you learned that … Read more...

The Emotional ICU known as grief

From Anne Moss. Logan suffered from anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation and an eating disorder and died in a truck crash.

By Tamara Rollinson

Grief hits you on many levels. Loss of a job. Loss of a marriage. Death of your parents, friends and loved ones. Death is final. No turning back.

Done. Forever in this life time.

There is absolutely no comparison to the death of your child. The death of a spouse, sibling or parent, while earth shattering and sad, does not come close.

As much as I loved my Mom, her death pales in comparison to my son … Read more...

Half hearted– #griefheart number 163

half-hearted
Half hearted

Some days my efforts for getting up and dressed are half hearted. I do it anyway because lying about in bed won’t make me feel better.  There are times you have to fake it before you make it. Losing a child to suicide is so devastating, many days you can’t believe it happened.

What is the #griefheart project?

I explain my #griefheart project here.

See all #griefhearts so far on pinterest or on this blog by #griefheart category.

Don’t talk me out of my tears
… Read more...

Charles always reached out

If there was one consistent theme about Charles, it was that he always reached out. He reached out to kids who were not always visible to others and to ones who were highly visible as well.

He put himself at risk socially doing this. But unlike other kids his age, he didn’t care.

He’d put himself on the line and stand up for other kids who had no friends at all or had tons of friends. Kids that felt isolated or depressed or were having a hard time with something in their lives. Kids that were unusual, unpopular, different. Kids … Read more...