• Child Loss,  Mother's Day without my child

    Mother’s Day Without My Child

    I marked the date on my calendar months ago.  I’m feeling the pressing ache in my heart more and more with each passing day.  Mother’s Day used to be such a day of celebration, but not any more. This is the second Mother’s Day without my son, and the pain has grown increasingly worse with each passing day.  I keep telling myself that this is just another day, but that’s a lie.  This is Mother’s Day, a day is is supposed to be celebrated.  Instead, I’m facing it with a brokenness that is unable to be fixed!

  • Child Loss,  Explaining Child Loss,  How to Validate Your Child's Life after Death,  What to Say to a Grieving Parent

    “Why Can’t People Understand My Need to Grieve?”

    My son died.  He died suddenly, without warning.  On that warm day in May, the lives of so many people changed when my son’s life on this earth ended.  He was the strong one in the family.  He was the oldest brother and the one that the others looked up to always.  He’s gone and our hearts are broken and life will never be the same again! It is now going on two years since Mike died.  Life has gone on for most everyone except his immediate family.  For us, the pain is real.  The pain is cruel.  The longing for Mike overshadows every day in a million different ways.…

  • Child Loss,  Differences with Male/Female Grief

    Child Loss: Will My Marriage Survive?

    When my sister Carmella died at age thirteen my parents were already separated. Her illness had taken a toll on the marriage. And, I’ll be quite honest with you by saying that it felt like our family was shipwrecked. Our faith in God was shattered. Friends seemed scarce. Family seemed even more scarce. And, my mom and dad shut down and stopped communicating with each other. The end result of this strain and stress was a divorce. They both parted ways following my sister’s death leaving our family even more broken than it already was. Why? Why do so many marriages fall apart following the death of a child? We’ll…