Death of a Child

Could Writing Help the Boston Survivors?

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

The bombings in Boston have left me in tears. Every time I hear the news, see the photos of those who died or were wounded, I want to curl up and block it all out. It is much the way I felt after my son took his life in 1999. These kinds of tragedies bring all those sad feelings back. I also want to find a way to help. In my memoir, Leaving the Hall Light On, I told how I survived through writing. It is my belief that everyone who has experienced such a tragedy – and I suspect […]

Death of a Child

Does the Stigma of Mental Illness Still Exist?

Sunday, November 11, 2012

A few months ago, my cousin came to our house to review and discuss the family history my husband had been writing. After reviewing the material, he made one request – leave out the part about his father’s bipolar disorder. In fact he didn’t want to see any discussion of any of the mental illness that permeates my side of our family. That was proof enough for me that the stigma of mental illness still exists. Although my husband did not mention our family’s mental illness in the history, I openly discussed my grandmother’s, uncle’s, and mother’s mental illness in […]

Death of a Child, Your Grief

How Working Outside My Hope Helped Me Survive

Friday, September 7, 2012

When my older son Paul died by suicide in 1999 after a seven-year battle with bipolar disorder, I had to find ways to keep myself busy and productive or else I would wallow away in my grief. At the time of his death I wrote grant proposals for a homeless shelter, but with too many reminders working from my home office, I decided I needed a job away from home. After two false starts at part-time jobs – writing grant proposals for our local free clinic and managing capital campaigns as a fundraising consultant – I decided to try to […]