grief/loss

christmas

Christmas Time After Loss

The holidays and especially Christmas time after a loss can be very challenging. Filled with family gatherings and wishes including words such as ‘merry’, ‘happy’ or ‘grateful’ might you want to scream and run for cover. This is where extreme self-care is required. First Christmas I remember the first Christmas time after my daughter died. […]

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The Evolution Of Grief: Grieving In The Seventh Year

What is it like in the seventh year of grief? Is the grieving still there all the time? Is it gone, mostly gone, or never gone completely? My daughter A’Mya died on September 3rd, 2011, just 3 days old. In the first few months, I couldn’t see further than feeding her twin sister and getting

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The Birthday Of The Child Who Isn’t Alive

How do you parent a dead child? Today is the 6th birthday of my girl. But she is not here on her special day. She is dead. Every time I think about her being dead, it somehow seems unreal. My inconceivable reality. It’s as if I lack words to describe it but continuously find myself

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Handlettered quote by Nathalie Himmelrich

My Dear ‘Would –Be’ Child

You are my ‘would-be’ child, you who would have turned five (four | three) last week. The children from Kindergarten would have celebrated with you in the morning. The rest of our family would have visited in the afternoon. We would be singing Happy Birthday to you and you would have impatiently ripped open your presents and whooped

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NICU

Stop That Grieving!

Many times during the dark periods of my grieving I wished for it to stop. “I can’t take any more!”; “I hate my life,” and “I don’t want to be like that.” In one specifically dark moment I remember telling my husband: “You have the luxury to decide whether you want to stay with me

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mother and child

Being A Better Parent After Loss?

Not me. I became a mother and then a bereaved mother 3 days later. Raising a twinless twin meant ‘learning to be a new mother’ at the same time as ‘learning to be the mother of a dead child’. Motherhood came with sleepless nights, challenging start with breastfeeding, organizing a funeral, and turned into a

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Grieving Parents: Surviving Loss as a Couple

Surviving Child Loss As a Couple

The loss of a child is without any doubt one of the most challenging experiences I have gone through in my life both personally and in my relationship. The most important aspect I have found through my survey of more than a hundred people and through interviewing parents one-on-one are: Understanding different ways of grieving

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