Author Archives: A Life After Loss

About A Life After Loss

I lost my son in 2013. I lost a lot that day, but I never lost it all. I still have hope, albeit it wavers sometimes. I still have my love of writing, and I still have my humor. Let's learn how to do this grief thing right.

Grief Glasses

Posted on December 15, 2015 by A Life After Loss

When you live through a traumatic experience, you look at things differently. You have your trauma sunglasses on, and while that can open up your world in many ways, you sometimes forget to take those glasses off and are unable … Continue reading →

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Teaching Kids About Death

Posted on December 11, 2015 by A Life After Loss

In the early, most horrible days, a very trusted child psychologist gave me advice on how to reassure my daughter that she wouldn’t also lose me or her father. “Tell her that everything is going to be OK. Tell her … Continue reading →

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House of Treasures

Posted on December 3, 2015 by A Life After Loss

Things are going well. Not sure if they’re going well because I’ve been distracted with other things, or if I’m just now able to distract myself with other things because I’m doing well. We traveled down to my late mother’s … Continue reading →

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Time Away

Posted on November 19, 2015 by A Life After Loss

Something happened. It wasn’t just one thing. It was a collection of things. I’d finish the frenetic morning breakfast/school lunch making/drop off routine, look down at my hands and notice all the spots I earned from decades of not wearing … Continue reading →

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One Book

Posted on October 19, 2015 by A Life After Loss

Now that my daughter is a big first grader, she doesn’t bring that much art home from school. Most art is done at home. She incorporates themes using whatever she’s into at the time. Right now it’s fairies. But with … Continue reading →

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The Worries: Part 2

Posted on October 5, 2015 by A Life After Loss

Oh, thank Christ. Two years ago a dermatologist thought my daughter might have neurofibromatosis, or NF. It’s a terrible genetic disease that neither me nor my husband have. Even though the diagnosis didn’t really fit, even after a physical examination, … Continue reading →

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The Worries

Posted on September 23, 2015 by A Life After Loss

Some people take life as it comes, worrying about something when there is a clear, imminent risk of something crappy happening. I envy those people with all my heart. What it must be like to go through life not constantly … Continue reading →

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The Visible String

Posted on September 14, 2015 by A Life After Loss

Once we lost Jay, my first priority was to do everything I could do make sure my daughter was OK. I called a psychologist I knew and had a phone consult. She had me write down a list of things … Continue reading →

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Diet God

Posted on September 8, 2015 by A Life After Loss

When your child is brain dead and you decide to donate their organs, there comes an actual moment when you walk away from them forever. They’re in the hospital bed, breathing (with assistance of a machine), heart beating (on it’s … Continue reading →

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A Few Questions For The Pros

Posted on August 31, 2015 by A Life After Loss

That’s right, this is for the pros; the people who lost kids a few years ago, maybe even 30 years ago. You’ve gotten pretty good at the whole grief thing. You go on vacations. You go out to restaurants and … Continue reading →

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