Losing my youngest brother to suicide eight years ago changed my life forever. I know things now that I could never have known if I hadn’t experienced this terrible loss. HERE’S WHAT I THINK YOU NEED TO KNOW. 1. YOU’LL NEVER KNOW WHY, AND NOTHING GOOD COMES FROM SPECULATING. One of the most frustrating things about losing a loved one to … Read More
This morning we learned that Anthony Bourdain, famous chef and TV host, has died by suicide. This comes just a couple of days after the well-known fashion designer, Kate Spade, also died by suicide. It’s tragic and devastating to say the least. The amount of media coverage that each of these suicides receives is understandable because the world feels as if … Read More
Please don’t get me wrong, I am so saddened to hear of the death of Kate Spade. It hurts my heart physically to hear the word suicide in any situation. However, I am so conditioned to look for it when certain groups of people die. Were they young? Did they have an illness? Was an accident reported in the area … Read More
Dear Why, You have traveled this journey with me as an ever-present companion. We have traversed through this terrain, so unfamiliar and unsteady. But like a Dear John letter, I write to say that we have reached the fork in the road. I want to travel on without you. The hardest and simplest truth is this: For my father, living hurt too … Read More
Dear Dad, April 20th is coming. I hear it, like a soft drumbeat in the distance, inching ever closer. Soon it will be three years since you died. I blink, and it feels as if time has just flown by. I draw a deep breath and it feels like only yesterday. How can it be that the passage of time … Read More
30 years ago you left us, you left me. I don’t remember the sound of your voice, I don’t know what your eyes looked like or how tall you were, I don’t know what your favourite song was or which football team you supported. So many moments, opportunities and memories were stolen from me. And I’ve been lucky, I have … Read More
We were divorced, yes, but my grief has been no less than if we had still been married. I’m extremely sentimental to begin with, and I loved Dan with all my heart. Even after our divorce. Even after being able to acknowledge we were no longer right for each other. Even after going our separate ways. That kind of love … Read More
Why is it so hard to take a walk down memory lane? I spent the weekend immersed in packing, as we recently decided to move out of the house I swore would be my “forever home.” I set a goal to go through all of the boxes in storage, swearing I would not have it hauled to another home. I … Read More
Recently, the folks over at Seleni wrote an article about “How to cope when someone you love completes suicide and how to help someone at risk.” It’s a great article and worth the read. They even asked me to contribute some of my own experience: “Brandy Lidbeck was just 10 years old when her mother completed suicide. After what … Read More
Every time I think of you, my chin drops toward my chest and my eyes close. Memories, thoughts and emotions rush through my head like a subway train in a tunnel. I strive to keep myself from crying. Again. Tears to add to the buckets I have already cried over the last two and a half years. Sometimes an alert … Read More