I had a vivid dream shortly after Mack, our son, died. I walked into our house through the front door and immediately recognized that we had been robbed. I made my way tentatively through each familiar room surveying overturned furniture,…
First, let me make a statement: anything positive or any gift we may receive as a result of our child/children’s death we would gladly give back, if only we could have them back with us again. Since that isn’t possible, then…
“Mommy . . . Daddy, kiss it and make the hurt go away.” You probably heard it when your children were small, but if your child has experienced “the parent’s worst nightmare,” they’re going to need more help. As a…
As I walked on an early summer day in South Florida, I listened to Duncan Sheik’s “She Runs Away.” I caught a phrase about “symptoms” and then “the darkness comes and the darkness goes” followed by “happiness ain’t never how…
When my Katie Kates went to Heaven on May 18, 2005, she was 19 1⁄2 yrs. old, and the world as I knew it was destroyed. I did not know anyone who had lost their child. I felt like I…
Backing out of the garage, I checked the big rock that we laid down to protect the killdeer eggs. Oh no, where are they, and where is she? Frantically, I threw the truck into park and jumped out. There was nothing…
Olivia was born still – an umbilical cord too tightly wound. Lucas was two days old when he died from complications. Greta was only two years old when she was killed by falling debris. Max was seven when he died…
The lives of my wife and I were forever changed on November 25, 2010. At 5:15 in the morning, I got the phone call that no parent ever wants to receive. On the other end of the line, someone was…
I often think that if my deceased younger sister heard people say that her suicide defines my career path and who I am, she’d burst out laughing. After all, I was the sister who put the tape down on the…
When people reference a deceased person, it is not unusual to hear his or her name referred to in the past tense. For example, upon learning that two of my sons are deceased, I have been asked: “What were their…
