Offering hope, comfort and support for survivors of suicide loss.
How often are you asked, "How are you?" What is your reply? Do you tell people how you really are? Or do you quickly answer, "I'm okay." After losing my dad to suicide, I found myself telling others that I was okay, even though the truth was I was no where near okay. It worked for me for awhile. I wasn't ready to talk about his death, and truly I didn't even know what to say. Problem with saying "I'm okay" is people start making the assumption ...
Kimberly Starr has written frequently here at Our Side of Suicide about her grief journey following the loss of her beloved son, Tom. Like many survivor moms, Kimberly has shifted the way she honors Mother's Day and shares her perspective with us.
A Reason to Celebrate
The first Mother’s Day after Tom died was just a few months after he passed, and our loss was still fresh in the minds of our community. I awoke to a knock on the door, and when ...
On our grief journey, we spend a great deal of time alone. Life moves on, people move on, at a more rapid pace than we do. Often, the world moves on when we are finally ready to talk about the events that have recently occurred. We become bitter at the people around us. How can you be so happy when you know I am so miserable? The sunshine doesn't feel so warm and comforting, the little things don't seem to give us the same joy that they did ...
Our past helps us understand the reality of the present. In the past, we may see the signs, or notice behaviors that were out of the ordinary for the person we lost. The past should be used as a tool; a tool to better understand the pain hidden beneath the surface of the person who died by suicide. The past helps us put meaning to our tragedy. It builds a narrative, and fills in the blanks. It is a useful tool. But that is all it is; a tool. ...
Guest blogger Tara B. shares with us this week her reflections and learnings as a "motherless daughter." Tara's mom died by suicide nearly two years ago.
Motherless Daughters
As I approach the two-year mark of losing my mom to suicide I can’t help but reflect on HOW different my life is now.
I will NEVER forget the day my counselor told me, “We aren’t here to FIX you, we are just trying to find your NEW normal.”
Talk about a breath of ...
