Kimberly Wencl

I am a 56-year old wife and mother living in Minnesota. My life changed on 9-20-03 when my 20-year old daughter, Elizabeth, died very tragically, very suddenly, and very unexpectedly. My daughter's death set me on a path I could have never imagined for myself. And, I am still on that same path today, over seven years later. In 2009, I retired from my job in the business world of 35 years. I now write and speak at every opportunity, in addition to volunteering at my church and in my community. I have had my true stories published in these magazines: Midwest Caregiver 12/08; Angels on Earth 10/09; You Need Never Walk Alone, 3/10; Campus Firewatch 10/09. My story is also included in the book, True Stories of Messages From Beyond by Julie Aydlott & Friends. My website is entitled, Love Lives On. I am also a writer for the website Owning Pink. (http://owningpink.com),and I have been a guest writer for the website FemCentral (http://jenniferlshelton.com, and Triumph of the Spirit (http://bolstablog.com). In addition, I have done several pieces on TV and radio. You can reach me through http://kimwencl.com.

Articles:

Celebrating a Daughter’s 30th Birthday, Without Her

I breathe a sigh of relief today… as I write this it is the last day of September, 2013. I love the September weather and the move to Fall. But it is a month full of emotions — good and painful. My daughter, Liz, would have turned the big 30 on September 12th. What haunts me most is that I long to know what the story of her life would look like at 30. What career would she have? Would she have found someone to share her life with? Would I be a Grandmother? In my mind, Liz will always […]

Deceased Offers a Gift for Grandpa

I was excited as I awoke early that Sunday morning. Today all of my plans and preparations would come full circle. In a short while we would begin to celebrate my Dad’s 80th birthday. Dad doesn’t like a lot of fuss, but he good-naturedly went along with all of our plans. I had managed to get his birthday celebration on our local 10 pm news. I had slept right through it, but many people let Dad know that they had seen it. A picture of Dad was in today’s paper announcing his milestone birthday. And there were flowers on the […]

Wake Me Up When September Ends

In a few short days, the month of September will be upon us. As I type these words, I can physically feel my stomach flip-flopping and a knot beginning to form. What’s wrong with September? Technically … nothing. I do enjoy the last days of summer and the soon-to-be fall weather. But my oldest daughter’s birthday and the day she died are both in the month of September. September brings up so many memories, both the good and the painful. On September 12, my Elizabeth would have been 28 years old. What would she be doing with her life? I so often […]

After Hospice Experience, Woman Volunteers

I had been thinking about becoming a hospice volunteer for a while. It would come to me as a passing thought every now and then. I would consider it for a bit and then put aside. Little did I know just how soon and how clearly my indecision would be reconciled. Our local hospice house is on the outskirts of town on what used to be a farm place. There is a windmill and a few trees but farm fields mostly surround the house. It looks like a home – not a place of death. I had tour a shortly […]

Butterflies Offers Sign from Beyond

We buried our 20-year old daughter, Elizabeth, on a bright, sunny, warm September day. If only that sun would break through the shock and disbelief of what that day brought. Why God, why? Elizabeth was supposed to bury me. A parent should never have to bury a child. A year earlier, we had packed her up and taken her to her dream college, the University of Minnesota. We had never seen her so happy. She was living in an exciting metropolitan area, she was getting good grades and she was making many diverse friends … all goals she had set […]

After Someone Dies, Can We Still Live in Joy?

It was September of 2003, and my daughter, Elizabeth, who had just turned 20, was beginning her sophomore year at the University of Minnesota. During the early morning hours of Saturday, September 20th, a fire broke out in her duplex, and she and two roommates died of smoke inhalation. The question I’m often asked is how can you find joy when you have suffered such a devastating loss? The answer is simple, yet complex. It is a journey and not a destination. I wouldn’t be where I am today had God, or The Universe as I like to call it, […]

Bright Spots in the Midst of Pain

I was numb as I sat in the chair between my husband and my father. I could hear the funeral director talking. I could see his lips moving, but nothing was registering in my mind. Even breathing was difficult. In the past twenty-four hours, life as we knew it had ceased to exist. Our oldest daughter, twenty-year-old Elizabeth, had died of smoke inhalation from a fire in her duplex just a few blocks from the University of Minnesota, where she had just begun her sophomore year. Two of her roommates also died with her. How can this be? Liz is […]

Deceased Daughter’s Recovered Letter is Invaluable to Mom

It was August 30, 2006, and there it was. The article on fatal off-campus house fires was on the front page of that day’s edition of USA TODAY. I had been so pleased to receive a call, some three weeks earlier, from a reporter working on the story. They had done extensive research on all the fatal off-campus house fires across the US since 2000, and the article would run just in time for college students who were moving into off-campus housing for the upcoming school year. It was everyone’s hope that this article would keep other college kids from […]

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