Brandi Reyna

Ms. Reyna is a creative soul with a passion for helping others. Her faith is very important to her and is reflected in her writings. She writes about her faith and the role it plays in her grieving process and how she grieves. Ms. Reyna's purpose for writing is to give voice to and shed light on unique losses. Ms.Reyna's articles focus primarily on building and living a new life after the sudden loss of her fiancé; the subsequent grief associated with sudden loss, her identification as an "unwedded widow" (a widow who was not legally married to her beloved), loss of a parent (grandparent) and creating a new life while living with loss. Ms. Reyna shares her journey to encourage others in their own faith and in their own healing journey. She hopes that by sharing her story and leading by example through her own life that her journey will show others that we can experience significant and impactful losses and still experience a full and joy-filled life after loss. Ms. Reyna holds a Master of Arts degree in Professional Studies with a specialization in Counseling.

Articles:

What it Feels Like to Come Alive Again

September marks two and a half years since we lost Greg. Two and a half years seems like such a long time and yet feels like such a short amount of time as well. I have felt and noticed a change within myself over the last 6 months. Reflecting upon the first two years of this journey of grief, I felt as though I was “asleep,” in shock, trying to process everything that has happened and just trying to survive not only the loss of my fiancé, but all the secondary losses that stem from losing Greg as well. Then […]

Widow Ages While Husband is Always 25

There are just times when grief hits you like a tidal wave. The waves hit again and again. I’m just trying to come up as I tread water and catch my breath, trying to breathe and stay afloat. Greg’s 27th birthday earlier this year was one of those days for me. It was a week before Greg’s 27th birthday and I was already “feeling it.” I have not done well on the two birthdays since his accident. What really caused me a lot of pain on this birthday was the realization that this is another year that I count in […]

Artist’s Block Follows Death of Grandfather

When I was a teenager, I was an artist. Painting was a therapeutic release for me. It helped me to outwardly express in a positive manner my inner anguish, anger and pain from abuse and other traumatic experiences in my life. It was part of my normal to paint and create something on canvas; expressing the emotions that I need to; and then repaint the canvas white and do something else. I do not own any artwork from that period in my life. This is probably a good thing, as seeing some of the things that I created, might take […]

Using Loss as an Inspiration to Help Others

On March 9, 2010, the unthinkable happened, I found myself widowed at the age of 25 when the love of my life, my soul mate, was in a car accident while on his daily morning commute to work, just two months shy of our wedding day. Early on in my journey, I knew part of God’s calling was for me to minister to other widows. At the time, I was 4 months into my journey and I had no idea what my ministry was going to look like. I had a plan in my head, but it was my plan. […]

Dr. Pepper Provides Sign from Beloved

From my own experience with losing my beloved, I have found it helpful for me to maintain a continuing bond and relationship with him. While our relationship is different than it was when he was here on Earth, I still have a strong connection with him in my heart and through the memories I carry of him and of us. For me, love is stronger than death. Love lasts beyond death. While I still have that bond with Greg, I am not the type of person that often finds myself receiving signs from him. I do not believe that our […]

Physical Effects of Grief: Insomnia, Eating Problems, and More

When I suddenly lost my fiancé in a car accident, my body had a traumatic response to the situation. When we grieve the loss of someone we love so much and who had such a profound impact on our life, we do not get to choose how our body reacts. We can’t place an order to God and say, “God, I would like to be able to eat today without getting sick,” or “I would like to be able to sleep tonight at a normal time and without nightmares, disturbing dreams and constant waking up.” If only grief work was […]

Embracing Grief Does Not Mean Rejecting Faith

Prior to my fiancé Greg’s accident in March 2010, my walk with Christ included daily quiet time and prayer, weekly women’s bible study, weekly young adult’s small group, weekly church service, and I served in ministry as a greeter, prayer team member and as intern in our church in women’s ministry. My walk with Christ looks a lot different now. I feel so convicted about it because I know my walk should resemble how I lived prior to Greg’s accident because that’s what scripture teaches. However, a friend of many years shared with me that while she sees how and […]

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