Nathalie Himmelrich

woman at the window

Why Grievers Are Often Misunderstood

Recently, in one week 80% of my arrangements to meet up with friends got cancelled. Not by me. I was utterly disappointed. Maybe I’m a highly sensitive person, or perhaps I simply get easily disappointed. So when I inquired into one specific cancellation, which happened to be with another bereaved mother, she said: “Since the

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women in black and white

Accept The Unique Fingerprint Of Grief And Loss

Grief is unique Your grief is as unique as your fingerprint. No two fingerprints are the same. Yes, they are both from a ‘finger’, made out of the unique pattern of whorls and lines on the fingertips but that’s as far as it goes in regards to similarities. They are more different than they are same but

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flower tulip

The Sensitivity Of A Grieving Parent

The sensitivity of grieving parents is huge. The trauma associated with the loss of a child leaves lifelong wounds. Eventually, they turn into scars, but they can remain utterly sensitive, even while seemingly invisible to the eye. Hurtful comments It’s true. Those who haven’t experienced child loss even though they have good intention often try

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woman leaning on window

Vulnerability Is Bravery

Vulnerability and bravery. Two words that I wouldn’t easily put into one sentence. Grieving the death of my daughter and the subsequent years of healing have taught me both.
I’m practising being vulnerable and brave by sharing some personal insights from behind the scenes of the latest project I’ve been working on the past year.

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writing in a book

Do More Than Survive The First Year After Loss

Having lost our daughter at 3 days old and then my mother through suicide just four and a half month later I often doubted I would survive this emotional intensity called grief. I was tired of living. I was exhausted from the emotional rollercoaster. Yet suicide was totally out of the question for me as I was acutely aware of the emotional turmoil my mother had left behind in the family surviving her self-chosen death and I was absolutely clear of the important role I played as the mother to my other child.

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grief quote

Don’t Apologize For Your Grief

Grief caused collateral damage in my life, my relationships and myself. Almost six years ago, my younger twin daughter died on the third day after her birth, followed by my mother’s death through suicide four and a half month later. The experience of death changed me so intensely that it took years upon years to

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Why You Will Never Fully Understand My Grief Experience As A Bereaved Mother

The experience of every bereaved mother (or father) is unique and so is their grieving experience. You can never fully understand another bereaved mother’s experience, even if you sit with her through the dark of the night, talk to her for hours, cry endless tears in compassion. I’ve tried. And I might have one advantage: I myself am a bereaved mother.

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