Tag: Bereavedparents
-
Used To It
A frequent and poignant question that newly bereaved parents ask is “how do I get used to this life without my child in it?”. That’s often followed by “I don’t want to get used to it. It’s not the way life is supposed to be.”. It’s true that child loss is abnormal. Parents are not…
-
New Season
I’ve talked before about grief seasons. Many bereaved parents have a certain period each year that their grief is more prominent. This seasonal grieving usually settles in two or three years after the death of their child. The first few years are so hard. Grief triggers are everywhere, and emotions are raw. But even eight…
-
Perspective
About two months after my younger daughter died in a car accident, I wrote the following in my journal: Don’t ever think you don’t make an impact on the world. Consider this. One young woman dies, but here are all the people the world lost: a wife, a daughter, a sister, a niece, an aunt,…
-
Better Than Laughter
About three years ago I wrote a post titled Crying. I talked about how, for me, crying is cathartic. I am an emotional person. I wear my heart on my sleeve, and I cry easily. Joyful moments can bring tears to my eyes just as much as sad moments. Even after more than thirty years…
-
The Enemy
Last week I mentioned that I hate the word “death.” It is so harsh. Rather than speak of someone’s death, I prefer to say their “homegoing.” Why is death so hard? Why is death so frightening? It seems self-evident on the one hand. Someone we love is gone from this life. Yet, we are all…
-
Good Grief
I’m writing this post on April 11th, 2025, the eighth anniversary of my younger daughter’s death. As an aside, don’t you feel the word “death” is harsh? I do. I love the African American tradition of referring to a memorial service or funeral as a “homegoing celebration.” It doesn’t negate the grieving over the loss…
-
Give Me a Minute
This coming Friday, April 11th marks eight years since my daughter Rachel went to Heaven. It’s hard for me to fathom that it’s really been that long since I hugged her, spoke to her, laughed with her, argued with her, ate chocolate cake with her, watched her walk down the aisle with her newlywed husband.…
-
Worth Savin’
I have been a member of two online bereaved parents’ groups now for more than seven years. A question and concern many parents express is whether or not their child is in Heaven. Young people often make poor choices. (I certainly did.) Some children have died as a result of illicit drug use or were…
-
New Normal
A phrase I hear a lot is “new normal.” It’s a way of saying “this is how things are now.” Whether we like it or not, we have to accept that something has changed and there’s no going back. People say it to describe a change in their lifestyle. A young woman who drove a…
-
Hope (Again)
Because all my writing for this blog reflects my experience in child loss, I often come back to the same themes. And a lot of these themes have to do with what I’ve learned about God’s character or His Word. Hope has been on my mind a lot lately. But when I checked back through…
A Light for My Path 