You Can Bear It (house fire)
by Justina Page On March 7, 1999, at the crack of dawn, something goes terribly wrong. I awake to explosions, smoke, darkness. Oh my God. The house is on fire. Our family is jolted from our peaceful bliss and thrown into chaos to a home totally engulfed with flames. My husband begins frantically jumping in …
This Promise Always, I’ll Be There (adult child/car accident)
by Ruth Stoecker No words can quell the stroke of grief No sentence spoke will bring relief So helpless now I long to take But half your pain, it mine I’d make To spell you briefly from this storm To offer solace safe and warm Oh Lord touch me that I may lend Some comfort …
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And the Band Played On…. (railroad crossing death/only child)
by LaFreda Kilburn On Wednesday, May 4, 1977 at 2:38 pm, a tiny 5lb 4oz, one month early baby boy couldn’t wait to make an entrance into this world. And he did. He proved to everyone, including a worried doctor, parents, and grandparents, that he had a will to live and would make the most …
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Seven Steps to Surviving Suicide Loss
by Catherine Greenleaf Losing someone we love to suicide can be devastating. The combination of sudden loss, shame, and stigma can make the process of grief look like a long and lonely road. But there are things we can do for ourselves that will develop and increase our resilience, and make that road a little …
A Parent’s Grief, Disbelief, Readjustment, and Discovery (teen suicide/only child)
by Carolyn Zahnow My only child died by suicide in 2005. That sentence alone is enough to make me, as well as you the reader, stop in their tracks. Yet I have learned how to cope with my grief as well as the facts of how my son died but it was no cakewalk, I …
In Memory of My Daughter, Kaitlyn Nicole Elkins (child suicide)
by Rhonda Sellers Elkins On April 11, 2013, I got the most dreaded call that any parent could ever get. A call from the police in the town where my 23-year-old daughter, Kaitlyn was starting her third year of medical school at Wake Forest School of Medicine. He said he had to talk with me …
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Magical Thinking Does It Make Sense? (adult child suicide)
by Madeline Sharples Magical thinking is an ancient idea that if a person hopes for something enough or performs the right actions, an event can be averted or turned around. Though this kind of thinking made no sense to me, I couldn’t stop doing it in the first months and years after my son’s suicide …
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One Day My Life Was Completely Normal and Then… (child homicide)
by Radha Stern One day my life was completely normal. I was making lunch for my brother, Abram, who was visiting me from New Jersey, and my best friend, Bettina, when the doorbell rang. I answered it, with my apron on, to a man from the Sheriff’s department. He informed me that another officer needed …
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Griefland ~ Nancy’s Story (child drug overdose)
by Nancy Miller Many of you who are reading this right now have undoubtedly had the experience of answering the phone and receiving bad news. A mysterious dark spot on a mammogram, a parent who has fallen or been injured, a child who has gotten sick at school or is in some kind of trouble. …
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Griefland ~ Armen’s Story (child drug overdose)
by Armen Bacon When I close my eyes, I see Alex as a toddler in his Superman cape, twirling in the sunlight, giggling, laughing, befriending lizards, iguanas, spiders, stray dogs. I see him in his wetsuit, boogie boarding, jumping waves 10 times his size. He loved our family summers at the beach. He also knew …
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New Year’s Day 2021 (unexpected teen death/no surviving child)
by Kay Bevington Rhonda's Mom As I sit in my office today, I am reminded of how our grief resembles the ice-filled trees, the snowy ice crystals on the lawn, and the slick streets just beyond our office window. NW Ohio is currently encountering an ice storm. We encountered the worst "storm" imaginable when our …
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Helping Bereaved Parents ~ Do’s and Don’ts List
When a child dies at any age or circumstance, parents begin their painful journey through grief. In the beginning, family and friends rush to your aid to help you cope. But as time goes on they seem to become bored with your grief. "Get over it". "It's been several months, you need to get better". …
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Death, Grief and Loss of a Son, A Mother’s Journey (accident)
Coping After Homicide (adult child/unborn baby)
by Lynn Jett Minick In loving memory of my daughter, Denise Minick Cveticanin who, along with her unborn daughter, Laura, was brutally murdered. When someone you loved is murdered, your emotions become intensified to a much greater extent than you can imagine. You feel as though you have been thrown into an emotional tailspin. Shock, …
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