Last Thursday morning, I woke up to check my facebook account only to find a good friend of mine had unexpectedly passed away the night before. She was only 48 years old. She was a wife, mother of three, Grandma to her precious granddaughter "B", and my friend.
I waited until my youngest daughter was out of preschool to drive over to the families home with a bouquet of flowers, a card and not knowing what to say really. I was shocked, I had just spoke with her on Tuesday.
I saw her youngest daughter first. I gave her a hug as she explained how her mom would never see her graduate, get married or have children. I walked into their home where my friend had died and was overwhelmed. I reminded the family that myself and my family are here for them and as I started to lose my brave front, I left with tears in my eyes. I didn't want them to see my grief. They were in for a long haul all on their own. My heart breaks for them.
When I think of all the talks her and I had about life, children and her granddaughter that she just absolutely loved more than life itself, it completely broke me. She often said there are no words to explain what it's like to be a Grandparent. She loved her kids of course but that next generation was something else! This always made me smile and the way she spoke about it made me start to look forward to that chapter in my life. Of course WAY, WAY, WAY down the road!!! =)
When I got home, I looked up her facebook profile and scanned through pictures of her with her granddaughter. I couldn't help but sob uncontrollably as I was reminded that she will not see her granddaughter grow up just as my dad will not see my kids grow up. That very fact threw me for a spin and I felt like it was last year all over again when my dad passed away.
I think of my littlest one he never got the chance to know because he took his life six months after her first birthday and it's beyond devastating. The last time he saw her, she was a mere 9 months old, not even crawling yet. There isn't a day that goes by when I'm with my youngest daughter and she's making me laugh and reaching new milestones that I don't think how much my dad would have got a kick out of her character. She is so funny and unique and she would have brought so much laughter into his life as she does for all others that are around her.
My dad had years with my other kids that showed him their personalities so he knew them and vice versa. I am forever grateful they had the time given to them all to form that special bond between grandparent and grandchild. At the same time, from time to time that very point makes me angry. My kids knew my dad so it was extremely difficult for them when he passed whereas my youngest didn't know him so she does not feel the pain of losing him. My youngest one only knows my dad by his picture hanging on the wall in our living room and that thinking of Grandpa still makes mommy sad.
It was the day after I found out about my friend that I felt paralyzed by her death. All but one of my kids were at school so I had to stay with it enough to care for my youngest daughter. However I spent the day zoned out as she played with toys around me. I periodically just sat on the couch staring off into space and more often than not cried when I pictured my friends face and how she was always there for me no matter what.
This past weekend I needed some time to myself. I wanted to have the luxury of just wandering but I didn't exactly want to be alone, so I decided to go to the mall. I was walking past the jewellery store my boyfriend and I had been in the week before when I saw the salesman that helped us standing behind the counter. I decided to go in to say hi (and to have another peek at the ring we chose). While we were talking he started listing the days he's working the following week. All but Wednesday he says, "I'm going to a funeral." I replied telling him that we had to go to a funeral as well on Wednesday. He proceeded to tell me about his friend that died last Wednesday night who was only 48 years old, heavy smoker and that she had died in her sleep while taking a nap. I froze. I felt chills and goosebumps from head to toe. I asked him her name but he wouldn't say, so I told him my friends name. I just had this incredible feeling (besides the nauseous one forming in my stomach) that we were talking about the same woman. Could it really be her? What are the chances, really?
These thoughts were suddenly racing through my head and looking at his frozen face told me we were in fact speaking of the same woman. He stared at me in disbelief and matter of factly said "we need to hug" and we did. This man I did not know but whom I had spent a half hour or so with the week before looking at rings came around from behind the counter to give me a hug and cry on my shoulder. What a phenomenal coincidence!!!
My boyfriend and I had never gone ring shopping and this jewellery store was the last one we went to in the mall. What are the chances the one time we go looking at rings, it employs this man who turns out to be our friends neighbor for 25 years. I felt like my friend who was one of my boyfriends and my biggest supporters was bringing us together in that very moment. I believe there's a reason why after almost four years together, my boyfriend and I decided now was the time to go look at rings. A higher power if you will that the salesman that day was a goo friend and neighbor to our friend benonst to us. Furthermore, did I mention we don't even live in the same city? Wow.....
This man had more information than I had as he had heard the night before the results of the autopsy. We thought she had passed due to a heart attack, but the autopsy showed she had blood clots in her neck. Had they found them a week earlier they could have operated and she'd still be with us. I'm not a smoker, but this news inspired me to make a point of going to my doctor regularly for check ups.
No matter what the relationship/friendship of a loved one you've lost, however close or what the circumstances are, grief is grief and it is how we manage it that will make the difference.
I chose the title "Tripping over kids" because almost everyday I "literally" am. I have four children and each and every one of them is unique. They all want and need not only to be loved and valued but they need and want individual time as well, from me.
All of them surround me, mostly talking at the same time hoping that I'll choose them to zero in on. It's like to kids, they should be the only ones to matter not their siblings. Like what they have to say and/or contribute is more important. I get it, they're kids but that's not how I've raised them. So from time to time they lose sight of that and they fight for my attention no holds barred. Everyone does it I'm sure! I love my kids equally but I treat them as individuals as they have different personalities, interests, wants and needs. I do my best to pay attention to that and do what I can but I have wants and needs too.
When I'm grieving I need space. When my dad passed away, I felt like I was always saying that and all too often I really would trip over them as they were all vying for my attention. Attention I had the most difficult time giving at such a painful time in my own life.
I have often said to them, "personal space" as a reminder to them that mommy needs space too. My own individual time. I don't love them any less, just that I'm doing my best, I love them but I need a minute. I gave myself permission to feel what I was feeling and the kids eventually learned from that and respect when I'm having a moment that I need to be my own.
Shortly after losing my dad to suicide I gave myself permission to look at my future with the full intention of not allowing his death to rule my life. Some days are harder than others and I'm certain that's true for everyone. Some days I view it as I'm struggling and other days I tell myself it's all part of the journey. Either way...simply put.....it sucks.
Losing my friend last week was a reminder once again that you just never know and as the saying goes, "Live well, laugh often, and love much. I for one admittedly take things (and people) for granted.
In my weakness, once again I will find strength.
Rest in peace my friend, rest in peace.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Upcoming Anniversary Date
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I've been feeling a shift in the way I am again. Thinking of Dad, feeling anxious and sad more than usual. Ugh!!!! Thanks a lot Dad! My mom has felt it too. The 'first' year is the hardest they say....soooo how will things be after that when it's the second, the third and so on?
It is crazy how much I think of him. The worst is at night after the kids are in bed and I'm alone with my thoughts.
Since my last meeting with my alumni group for suicide survivors, I've decided that I'm going to give myself permission to attend one more meeting before taking a break. I believe it will be on May 23rd, 2010.
The meetings are always nice as a way to check in and see how everyone is doing, but it's also painful, draining and depressing. There are people there that lost their loved ones to suicide 40 to 25 years ago. I don't want to be like them.
I don't want to be sitting in a room with people I don't really know crying about how much I miss my dad. I truly feel it's what I needed for this first year without him, but now it is time for me to move on and perhaps find other ways to approach getting through the rest of my life without him.
I just have this overwhelming feeling that given May is the anniversary month of his death, I will have given myself permission to grieve for a year. Don't get me wrong, I will always be grieving, always missing him. There has to be a time that the sadness, hopeless, depressed and confused feelings take a back seat to my everyday life. There has to be a time that I get into the drivers seat of my own life and just deal with it. I'm determined to not let his death break me as I know it has this past year.
It's affected my relationships with everyone, especially my kids. I hope and pray they know how much I love them, but this has been damn hard.
I have never in my life wanted to change something so bad. For someone who people refer to as controlling, can you imagine the desperation I feel to want to control "this"???
These postings for example are depressing to me and I am usually reduced to sobbing uncontrollably because it brings everything to the surface.
I don't want to live my life like that....like this. I want to write about positive and fun things. Like my children. That always brings a smile to my face. They are what lifts me up when I am down. For the most part anyways. It's all been so overwhelming.
Let's face it though...I am a single mom with four children under the age of 10 years old. It's a lot of work. I can't let my grief control me.
I saw a video on you tube a couple weeks ago pertaining to cancer (the link for it is at the end of this entry). It has various people who are clearly angry yelling at cancer. Please take a look, as it has people looking at the camera or looking at themselves in the mirror yelling about how cancer has affected them and/or their loved ones. I can totally see it pertaining to suicide as well and it was suggested as such by a suicide survivors group. Very powerful video. So hard though for any suicide survivor as I know we all feel so powerless.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=crXaLu9Ecmg
Monday, March 29, 2010
Behind on blogging
Wow! I haven't posted in months now! Just thought to go thru my posts and found a draft from Christmas that I never posted. I've posted it now.
So weird to be reading what I was feeling at that time. I remember that night, feeling so depressed, alone and crippled by the pain I was feeling from losing my dad. Honestly not much has changed since December. Only I don't cry as often because I've learned to stop thinking of him when thougths of him start to creep into my mind. Then I get upset that I'm not able to think about him because I so wish I could think of the wonderful memories of him not just his death. What is it going to take, really? Time?
Did our loved ones have ANY idea the pain they would inflict on those around them when they did what they felt they needed to do in the moment they did the act? Did they realize how it would change our lives and sculpt us to be different people than the ones they knew us to be before they left us?
So many unanswered questions surrounding a loss to suicide. Many we will never ever have. Like a roller coaster mentioned so many times pertaining to the subject of suicide..being the surviviors....our feelings go around and around, up and down. Or like a ring, a circle with no end...It has forever changed me and so many others.
Now the question is....how do WE that are left behind to mourn our loss survive without our loved ones?
So weird to be reading what I was feeling at that time. I remember that night, feeling so depressed, alone and crippled by the pain I was feeling from losing my dad. Honestly not much has changed since December. Only I don't cry as often because I've learned to stop thinking of him when thougths of him start to creep into my mind. Then I get upset that I'm not able to think about him because I so wish I could think of the wonderful memories of him not just his death. What is it going to take, really? Time?
I joined a Suicide Bereavement Support Group a week after he passed and every two months the group and others from other groups get together for a few hours. Kind of checking in with everyone to see how they are all doing. These gatherings never fail to shock me that there are people there that have been suffering for years and years. At last nights meeting, I sat there only having gone thru it the past 10 months. Everyone's pain is just as intense, painful and beyond any pain we've ever felt at losing someone we love to suicide. No matter how much time has passed.
So many unanswered questions surrounding a loss to suicide. Many we will never ever have. Like a roller coaster mentioned so many times pertaining to the subject of suicide..being the surviviors....our feelings go around and around, up and down. Or like a ring, a circle with no end...It has forever changed me and so many others.
Now the question is....how do WE that are left behind to mourn our loss survive without our loved ones?
Christmas
Wow. It has been so long since I've written. So much going on. Not only because of the holidays, but busy with kids of course. So the usual really. However, at this time of year, Christmas, which used to be my absolute favoite time of year *sigh* This is the very first Christmas without my dad. It has now been seven months since his passing. I miss him so much. He is always on my mind. When I think of him I attempt to only think about the good memories (as suggested by so many people). However, I'm finding any kind of memory of him is still too painful and tears automatically form in my eyes. It throws me how often and how hard I am hit by his memory. Even as I lay my head down to sleep at night and close my eyes, my pillow is suddenly wet from my tears. It's been such a struggle, and I have so many thoughts, that I even struggle to write about it. Writing was never a problem before losing Dad. I've kept journals all my life. There is just so much emotion, it's all very overwhelming and I get lost in my own thoughts having a hard time making sense of it all. My thoughts are just....scrambled.
Monday, October 19, 2009
It's been a while...
I haven't felt an overwhelming urge to blog lately. Kids have been sick, as have I. I have been dealing with relationship issues with unfortunately more than one person in my life. A lot to handle.
Thanksgiving was....nice. Different...but nice. This was the first Thanksgiving without my dad, so a lot of mixed emotions there.
I feel like I'm going thru a phase whenever I think of my dad I immediately try to push the thoughts out of my head. Thinking of him tonight though...pushing the thoughts out of my head is simply put not an option. Tried going to bed, but couldn't stop thinking of him so thought this was a good time to get up and write. Even though it is 12:45am and I'm exhausted I can't seem to calm my nerves and racing thoughts. Hoping this will help a bit. Kind of like an outlet to release my emotions. Bleh....
I went to Dad's grave last week. First time ever by myself. I woke up early last Monday. It was Thanksgiving Day and I woke up needing to be there, I couldn't get there fast enough. Kids were taken care of, so I gave myself permission to go. I took an orange, yellow, and red plant to place on his grave. Colors of the fall, which brought a smile to my face.
I thought it would be nice to call my mom in Regina on the way there. It was Thanksgiving and I knew it would be hard on her to be alone for the first time on Thanksgiving. However, as soon as I heard her voice, a lump formed in my throat and I could barely speak. I managed to tell her where I was going, but that's all I could get out. She asked me if I was ok. I sobbed no. Told her I would call her later, and I was sorry.
I'm not sure why that suddenly happened. I was fine until we started to speak. I think sometimes it's too hard to talk to her because she reminds me of my dad. She's all I have left for a parent. Speaking to her reminds me I can no longer speak to him.
There I was thinking I would phone her and support her on that day, but turns out I'm the one that needed the support.
Once I got thru that morning at his graveside, I went home and put on my happy face for my kids and cooked a wonderful Thanksgiving meal. It was a nice idea, but my heart wasn't really in it. I felt....numb.
It comes and goes. At this moment, it's here, and hopefully I pray that when I attempt to sleep again it'll go. Tears have fallen down my face as I typed about Thanksgiving here. Perhaps that is the release I needed. I think I'll try to go to bed again and get some rest.... kids have school and it'll be here before I know it.
Thanksgiving was....nice. Different...but nice. This was the first Thanksgiving without my dad, so a lot of mixed emotions there.
I feel like I'm going thru a phase whenever I think of my dad I immediately try to push the thoughts out of my head. Thinking of him tonight though...pushing the thoughts out of my head is simply put not an option. Tried going to bed, but couldn't stop thinking of him so thought this was a good time to get up and write. Even though it is 12:45am and I'm exhausted I can't seem to calm my nerves and racing thoughts. Hoping this will help a bit. Kind of like an outlet to release my emotions. Bleh....
I went to Dad's grave last week. First time ever by myself. I woke up early last Monday. It was Thanksgiving Day and I woke up needing to be there, I couldn't get there fast enough. Kids were taken care of, so I gave myself permission to go. I took an orange, yellow, and red plant to place on his grave. Colors of the fall, which brought a smile to my face.
I thought it would be nice to call my mom in Regina on the way there. It was Thanksgiving and I knew it would be hard on her to be alone for the first time on Thanksgiving. However, as soon as I heard her voice, a lump formed in my throat and I could barely speak. I managed to tell her where I was going, but that's all I could get out. She asked me if I was ok. I sobbed no. Told her I would call her later, and I was sorry.
I'm not sure why that suddenly happened. I was fine until we started to speak. I think sometimes it's too hard to talk to her because she reminds me of my dad. She's all I have left for a parent. Speaking to her reminds me I can no longer speak to him.
There I was thinking I would phone her and support her on that day, but turns out I'm the one that needed the support.
Once I got thru that morning at his graveside, I went home and put on my happy face for my kids and cooked a wonderful Thanksgiving meal. It was a nice idea, but my heart wasn't really in it. I felt....numb.
It comes and goes. At this moment, it's here, and hopefully I pray that when I attempt to sleep again it'll go. Tears have fallen down my face as I typed about Thanksgiving here. Perhaps that is the release I needed. I think I'll try to go to bed again and get some rest.... kids have school and it'll be here before I know it.
Friday, October 9, 2009
My kids...
It's late, I'm tired. Just tucked in the last of my four babies. Ok, they're not all babies anymore per say, however I will always consider them to be whether they like it or not! ;-)
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Going to watch a movie now I think. Before doing so thought of my blog. Thought it would be a nice touch to put a picture of my kids on here. So here they are...In order from left to right - Evan, Emberlyn, Cameron, & Kaylyn.
Plan on writing tomorrow about dads marker that was delivered to the cemetery on Monday. Just don't have the mental strength to get into it now.
Until tomorrow....
Plan on writing tomorrow about dads marker that was delivered to the cemetery on Monday. Just don't have the mental strength to get into it now.
Until tomorrow....
Tripping over kids...while mourning...
TRIPPING OVER KIDS
(while mourning the loss of someone to suicide).
There are four of them, and only one of me. I am outnumbered on a regular basis. I am speaking of my four children under the age of ten years old. Anyone who is raising kids on their own knows you feel alone even though your children are with you, but like the weight of the world is on your shoulders as the responsibility for those little people rests upon you. It can be overwhelming and sometimes even unbearable to cope with the stress of it all.
Now I am a single mother of four children trying to cope with the loss of my father who took his own life on May 3rd, 2009. Yes, “SUICIDE” and the stigma that goes along with it. Something that I never thought I would have to deal with, and certainly not involving my dad. I have come head to head with my biggest challenge yet. Funny, I always thought my challenge is to raise my four active children!
My dad had Bipolar Disorder (manic depressive illness) is a mood disorder with extreme mood swings. Only a few family members including myself were aware of his illness. He had been struggling for the last 4 ½ years with the illness.
He chose to hide his struggles as best he could. He wasn’t honest with his doctors, therapists, or my mom for that matter about what was really going on with him. He often changed his medication without telling my mom. When she would find out he claimed he changed it because he was feeling better and didn’t need the meds anymore.
He didn’t make the connection that it was the medication that was making him feel better and that he should continue to take it. Feeling more like himself, he opted to not take them until mom told the doctors and they urged him to continue. This was an ongoing battle for years.
I knew of this struggle, and dad would usually call me to confide in me what was going on, although I know he did not share everything.
In May my mom came to visit my grandparents on the Sunshine Coast for a couple weeks. Her and my dad discussed it, and it was decided he was going to stay in Regina to continue work while mom took the time off to visit her parents who were ill. My parents worked side by side for years doing drywall. Mom was to spend a week on the coast, then visit the kids and I for the remainder of her time in BC. Only I got a call on the fourth day she was on the coast.
She called Sunday night asking if I could pick her up at the ferry the next morning. Despite mom saying everything was ok when I asked her what was going on, I knew it wasn’t. I thought about my grandparents, had something happened? I prepared myself for the worst and set off the next morning to the Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal with my 18 month old daughter in tow. My three older kids were at school.
Mom didn’t really say anything, so I assumed maybe my grandparents needed a break from company as I had been warned they sometimes do. Upon arriving back home we had lunch, and afterwards I sat down on the living room floor to play with my baby. Mom sat on the couch across the room and watched us quietly. Something was wrong. I could now feel it in the pit of my stomach that was now filled with knots. She was quiet, and watching us intently. Something was clearly on her mind.
My mom suddenly sat down on the chair close to me grabbing my arm moving me closer towards her saying “I have something to tell you.” My stomach went into my throat and I swallowed hard as if to push down the lump that was forming there. My mom’s eyes filled with tears, and she whispered “Dad passed away yesterday.” My dad…as I’m typing this, my stomach goes into that familiar knot and suddenly the words on my screen are no longer eligible.
Mom did not have all the information at that time, including how he died. We didn’t say the words in that moment, but deep down, we both knew he had died by suicide. Our worst fear was confirmed later that evening.
Some of the memories of that day are clear, most are not. I remember after she told me, I remained on the floor sobbing uncontrollably into my hands. My 18 month old baby walking over unsteadily to see what was wrong with her mommy. I hugged her, I hugged her hard. I thought of my other children. Someone needed to get them from school. They were to be picked up in 45 minutes. I knew there was no way I would or should even attempt to drive to get them, so I called their dad. I’m not sure how I managed to get the words out but I did. Sobbing, I told him I just found out my dad died and he needed to take the other kids. I called my boyfriend (my youngest daughters dad) telling him my dad was gone and he needed to come to the house to help with the baby.
Once I knew they were on their way for the children, I gave myself permission to feel everything I was feeling. I ran to the bathroom and threw up.
I remember sitting in my baby’s room at some point between the rocking chair and her crib, but I have no memory of how I got there. There, my youngest daughter hugged me, clutching her little arm around my neck. She tried to maneuver her way onto my lap. I remember holding her and crying so hard I thought I might scare her. She held on to me, as if her own life depended on it.
I know my mom was in the room. I remember hearing her voice, but I do not recall everything she was saying. Something about calling an ambulance for help, and telling someone “she’s in here.”
I remember my boyfriend showing up and pulling our daughter away from me in an attempt to give me space thinking it would be better for both of us. That she shouldn’t see her mommy in such a state. That couldn’t have been further from the truth. I heard my baby’s howling and crying for me in the hallway after they pulled her from me. He and my mom immediately realized she needed to be with me, and boy did I need her. As soon as she was taken from my grasp I started to hyperventilate. When they returned her to me still wedged between the chair and the crib, she calmed down and so did I. I will never forget the power of that moment with her. How much we needed each other. I don’t think I can even put into words how those precious moments were during such an excruciating painful time. It is indescribable.
It has been five months since my dad made the decision to end his life. Since that first week of his passing, I have gone back to Regina to see him one last time. I drove the long, narrow road in La Fleche, SK he took when he decided to take his life in a baseball field there where he used to play ball as a child.
I stood in the middle of the field, my dad only gone for five days. I closed my eyes, felt the cold wind on my face. I could hear birds singing, it was peaceful there though my heart was broken. There was nothing in sight but an old battered concession stand and bathroom if you can call it that. As the sun set, the sky lit up with pink, yellow and red I thought to myself "This is it. This is where my dad took his last breath." I felt calm whereas I thought I would be a complete wreck being there. It just wasn't the horrific picture I had in my mind when I thought of my dad all alone that day. I have no regrets going there, because somehow I managed to find temporary peace with what I saw. I will not wonder where he was, or what he saw in those last moments because I gave myself permission to see it too.
We buried him on Mothers Day in a little cemetery next to his parents who passed away long ago in La Fleche, SK. I brought back some of his ashes with me as I knew I wanted to have him here in BC with me, where he raised me. I buried him again on July 27th, 2009.
I took care of the paperwork regarding his death for the first week after his passing. I wrote his obituary that would be placed in several different newspapers, rifling thru pictures of him that would be suitable for the newspaper. I wrote his eulogy that I was to read at his funeral in Regina an exact week to the day he passed. Through all this I was trying to maintain my composure in front of my kids, trying to portray like I was ok, when in fact I was not.
I have attended an eight week Suicide Support Bereavement Program, two alumni meetings for the group, and a dove release on Father’s Day.
I have planned and arranged two balloon releases. First one was with my children, for my children. They did not go with me to Regina, so they had no opportunity to say goodbye to Grandpa and I had not yet made the arrangements for him to be buried in BC.
I had the kids draw pictures and write Grandpa little notes and attached them to the string of the balloons. We released them on the beach in White Rock on Father’s Day. I remember it was cold and windy that day, similar to the cold windy day on the baseball field in La Fleche where I stood remembering my dad. Now here I was with my kids on Fathers Day, they knew and understood why we were there. I am blessed.
My 8 year old son asked me as we watched the balloons being carried swiftly to the skies above “what happens if Grandpa doesn’t catch the balloons because they’ve flown to space?” I told him “that won’t happen, Grandpa will catch them before they get there.” It was one of those rare moments that my pain was slightly eased. I looked at my son, and he wasn’t sad watching his balloon being carried away by the wind, he was smiling, thinking of Grandpa up in the heavens waiting to catch his balloon note. I gathered up my kids once the balloons were out of sight, and we drove to where the dove release was being held. It was a long and emotional day, but worth it. My kids were able to say their goodbyes to Grandpa in two different and special ways.
I planned and arranged a Celebration of Life for my dad in August. It turned out better than I could have hoped for. Thirty family and friends gathered. That was the day for the second balloon release. We stood in a circle gathered in my aunt and uncles backyard. Each person had their own brightly colored balloon. I asked that everyone say something about dad and when they were done they let go of their balloon. It was my second balloon release for him and it was beautiful. It was a lot more powerful than the first, perhaps because I was surrounded by so many other people who love him. At the same time though, I remember being extremely angry that day.
The only time I was somewhat civil was when my children asked me something. I had to constantly remind myself to keep my emotions in check so that the Celebration of Life was a day to actually celebrate him, rather than be angry at him. It was difficult beyond words, and when it came time for me to release my balloon for my dad, I was sad again, remembering him and just how much I love and miss him.
On September 10th, I attended the Suicide Prevention Day event held at the facility I went to for the support group. I was frustrated and disappointed to learn that night, there is no National Suicide Prevention Strategy for Canada in place. There is such a "stigma" about suicide it's overwhelming.
I have spent countless hours researching suicide, signing petitions, reading books, attending meetings and events, just trying to make sense of it all. I simply can't. Nothing works, however some of it has helped. I know I am not alone. I am grateful for the support group I found and the friendships that developed there. So many people have and continue to go thru the exact same thing I am. I remain frustrated that my dad is gone no matter how many venues or things I try to get thru this.
Where I once wore a silver bracelet on my wrist, I am now sporting an orange rubber suicide prevention and awareness one that I picked up at the suicide prevention event last month. I’ve dyed my hair from blonde to brunette because that’s the color my dad always preferred as it is my natural color.
It amazes me the things I am doing to try to feel connected to him. I am forever changed by his decision. I am everyday painfully aware he is gone, and the knots in my stomach linger, some days more than others. I know that for some people they look to their faith for support and guidance. I’ve learned that I don’t have to look far as I look into the faces of my four innocent children. With them, I can get thru anything.
A friend of mine gave me a refrigerator magnet a couple years ago that reads “I can survive any crisis, I have kids.” I’ve always chuckled reading it from time to time as it has remained on my refrigerator door, and it is meant to humor people. Now I look at it in a different light. I still chuckle, but now I give a knowing nod and remind myself “yes, I really can survive any crisis.” Thank goodness I do have kids, without them, I would be grieving differently.
I’ve chosen to be open and honest about my dads' death. What I’m feeling and what I’m going thru with whoever asks as it is vital to talk about your feelings. When I’m crying or just down, my kids now have a better understanding as to why. I often say my dad took my happy, but my children bring it back simply by being them.
I hope and pray this has taught them to be open about their feelings as they know Grandpa wasn’t about his. I hope and pray they will remember seeing me in this kind of pain so later in life if they ever have the feelings my dad did, they remember the pain that was inflicted on those who loved him by his decision, and to always know to ask for help, and there is nothing wrong in doing so. These lessons I feel I have already taught my children, but maybe, just maybe this particular subject will hit home even more for them when they are old enough to really understand it all.
They say suicide is a selfish decision, a permanent solution to a temporary problem. I feel like it is a lifetime sentence to those who are left behind. Thru this, I have met dozens of people who are still attending support groups after losing someone to suicide up to over 40 years ago. It changes you. You do not fully recover, you just learn to deal with it better over time.
I sincerely encourage others to look within your selves for strength. We are all stronger than we realize. I especially learned just how strong I can be for my children, and that the answers I seek to make sense of what has happened is an attempt for closure – it is a journey, not a destination. It will take time to walk the path toward healing…there is no timeline, it will happen as it is meant to as we all grieve in our own time and in our own way.
So each day as I’m literally tripping over kids, in their attempt to get my attention, I am reminded that they need me to. I am still here. It is my dad that is gone. I cannot let my dad’s decision to take his life consume mine, take over and affect the people I love that need me healthy and happy as I continue to live my life. I believe in the power to choose…I choose to live, no matter what crisis is thrown my way.
Written by Tera Williams in loving memory of my Dad, John S. Moore.
Please visit www.nspscnd.epetitions.net to support A National Suicide Prevention Strategy for Canada.
There are four of them, and only one of me. I am outnumbered on a regular basis. I am speaking of my four children under the age of ten years old. Anyone who is raising kids on their own knows you feel alone even though your children are with you, but like the weight of the world is on your shoulders as the responsibility for those little people rests upon you. It can be overwhelming and sometimes even unbearable to cope with the stress of it all.
Now I am a single mother of four children trying to cope with the loss of my father who took his own life on May 3rd, 2009. Yes, “SUICIDE” and the stigma that goes along with it. Something that I never thought I would have to deal with, and certainly not involving my dad. I have come head to head with my biggest challenge yet. Funny, I always thought my challenge is to raise my four active children!
My dad had Bipolar Disorder (manic depressive illness) is a mood disorder with extreme mood swings. Only a few family members including myself were aware of his illness. He had been struggling for the last 4 ½ years with the illness.
He chose to hide his struggles as best he could. He wasn’t honest with his doctors, therapists, or my mom for that matter about what was really going on with him. He often changed his medication without telling my mom. When she would find out he claimed he changed it because he was feeling better and didn’t need the meds anymore.
He didn’t make the connection that it was the medication that was making him feel better and that he should continue to take it. Feeling more like himself, he opted to not take them until mom told the doctors and they urged him to continue. This was an ongoing battle for years.
I knew of this struggle, and dad would usually call me to confide in me what was going on, although I know he did not share everything.
In May my mom came to visit my grandparents on the Sunshine Coast for a couple weeks. Her and my dad discussed it, and it was decided he was going to stay in Regina to continue work while mom took the time off to visit her parents who were ill. My parents worked side by side for years doing drywall. Mom was to spend a week on the coast, then visit the kids and I for the remainder of her time in BC. Only I got a call on the fourth day she was on the coast.
She called Sunday night asking if I could pick her up at the ferry the next morning. Despite mom saying everything was ok when I asked her what was going on, I knew it wasn’t. I thought about my grandparents, had something happened? I prepared myself for the worst and set off the next morning to the Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal with my 18 month old daughter in tow. My three older kids were at school.
Mom didn’t really say anything, so I assumed maybe my grandparents needed a break from company as I had been warned they sometimes do. Upon arriving back home we had lunch, and afterwards I sat down on the living room floor to play with my baby. Mom sat on the couch across the room and watched us quietly. Something was wrong. I could now feel it in the pit of my stomach that was now filled with knots. She was quiet, and watching us intently. Something was clearly on her mind.
My mom suddenly sat down on the chair close to me grabbing my arm moving me closer towards her saying “I have something to tell you.” My stomach went into my throat and I swallowed hard as if to push down the lump that was forming there. My mom’s eyes filled with tears, and she whispered “Dad passed away yesterday.” My dad…as I’m typing this, my stomach goes into that familiar knot and suddenly the words on my screen are no longer eligible.
Mom did not have all the information at that time, including how he died. We didn’t say the words in that moment, but deep down, we both knew he had died by suicide. Our worst fear was confirmed later that evening.
Some of the memories of that day are clear, most are not. I remember after she told me, I remained on the floor sobbing uncontrollably into my hands. My 18 month old baby walking over unsteadily to see what was wrong with her mommy. I hugged her, I hugged her hard. I thought of my other children. Someone needed to get them from school. They were to be picked up in 45 minutes. I knew there was no way I would or should even attempt to drive to get them, so I called their dad. I’m not sure how I managed to get the words out but I did. Sobbing, I told him I just found out my dad died and he needed to take the other kids. I called my boyfriend (my youngest daughters dad) telling him my dad was gone and he needed to come to the house to help with the baby.
Once I knew they were on their way for the children, I gave myself permission to feel everything I was feeling. I ran to the bathroom and threw up.
I remember sitting in my baby’s room at some point between the rocking chair and her crib, but I have no memory of how I got there. There, my youngest daughter hugged me, clutching her little arm around my neck. She tried to maneuver her way onto my lap. I remember holding her and crying so hard I thought I might scare her. She held on to me, as if her own life depended on it.
I know my mom was in the room. I remember hearing her voice, but I do not recall everything she was saying. Something about calling an ambulance for help, and telling someone “she’s in here.”
I remember my boyfriend showing up and pulling our daughter away from me in an attempt to give me space thinking it would be better for both of us. That she shouldn’t see her mommy in such a state. That couldn’t have been further from the truth. I heard my baby’s howling and crying for me in the hallway after they pulled her from me. He and my mom immediately realized she needed to be with me, and boy did I need her. As soon as she was taken from my grasp I started to hyperventilate. When they returned her to me still wedged between the chair and the crib, she calmed down and so did I. I will never forget the power of that moment with her. How much we needed each other. I don’t think I can even put into words how those precious moments were during such an excruciating painful time. It is indescribable.
It has been five months since my dad made the decision to end his life. Since that first week of his passing, I have gone back to Regina to see him one last time. I drove the long, narrow road in La Fleche, SK he took when he decided to take his life in a baseball field there where he used to play ball as a child.
I stood in the middle of the field, my dad only gone for five days. I closed my eyes, felt the cold wind on my face. I could hear birds singing, it was peaceful there though my heart was broken. There was nothing in sight but an old battered concession stand and bathroom if you can call it that. As the sun set, the sky lit up with pink, yellow and red I thought to myself "This is it. This is where my dad took his last breath." I felt calm whereas I thought I would be a complete wreck being there. It just wasn't the horrific picture I had in my mind when I thought of my dad all alone that day. I have no regrets going there, because somehow I managed to find temporary peace with what I saw. I will not wonder where he was, or what he saw in those last moments because I gave myself permission to see it too.
We buried him on Mothers Day in a little cemetery next to his parents who passed away long ago in La Fleche, SK. I brought back some of his ashes with me as I knew I wanted to have him here in BC with me, where he raised me. I buried him again on July 27th, 2009.
I took care of the paperwork regarding his death for the first week after his passing. I wrote his obituary that would be placed in several different newspapers, rifling thru pictures of him that would be suitable for the newspaper. I wrote his eulogy that I was to read at his funeral in Regina an exact week to the day he passed. Through all this I was trying to maintain my composure in front of my kids, trying to portray like I was ok, when in fact I was not.
I have attended an eight week Suicide Support Bereavement Program, two alumni meetings for the group, and a dove release on Father’s Day.
I have planned and arranged two balloon releases. First one was with my children, for my children. They did not go with me to Regina, so they had no opportunity to say goodbye to Grandpa and I had not yet made the arrangements for him to be buried in BC.
I had the kids draw pictures and write Grandpa little notes and attached them to the string of the balloons. We released them on the beach in White Rock on Father’s Day. I remember it was cold and windy that day, similar to the cold windy day on the baseball field in La Fleche where I stood remembering my dad. Now here I was with my kids on Fathers Day, they knew and understood why we were there. I am blessed.
My 8 year old son asked me as we watched the balloons being carried swiftly to the skies above “what happens if Grandpa doesn’t catch the balloons because they’ve flown to space?” I told him “that won’t happen, Grandpa will catch them before they get there.” It was one of those rare moments that my pain was slightly eased. I looked at my son, and he wasn’t sad watching his balloon being carried away by the wind, he was smiling, thinking of Grandpa up in the heavens waiting to catch his balloon note. I gathered up my kids once the balloons were out of sight, and we drove to where the dove release was being held. It was a long and emotional day, but worth it. My kids were able to say their goodbyes to Grandpa in two different and special ways.
The only time I was somewhat civil was when my children asked me something. I had to constantly remind myself to keep my emotions in check so that the Celebration of Life was a day to actually celebrate him, rather than be angry at him. It was difficult beyond words, and when it came time for me to release my balloon for my dad, I was sad again, remembering him and just how much I love and miss him.
On September 10th, I attended the Suicide Prevention Day event held at the facility I went to for the support group. I was frustrated and disappointed to learn that night, there is no National Suicide Prevention Strategy for Canada in place. There is such a "stigma" about suicide it's overwhelming.
I have spent countless hours researching suicide, signing petitions, reading books, attending meetings and events, just trying to make sense of it all. I simply can't. Nothing works, however some of it has helped. I know I am not alone. I am grateful for the support group I found and the friendships that developed there. So many people have and continue to go thru the exact same thing I am. I remain frustrated that my dad is gone no matter how many venues or things I try to get thru this.
Where I once wore a silver bracelet on my wrist, I am now sporting an orange rubber suicide prevention and awareness one that I picked up at the suicide prevention event last month. I’ve dyed my hair from blonde to brunette because that’s the color my dad always preferred as it is my natural color.
It amazes me the things I am doing to try to feel connected to him. I am forever changed by his decision. I am everyday painfully aware he is gone, and the knots in my stomach linger, some days more than others. I know that for some people they look to their faith for support and guidance. I’ve learned that I don’t have to look far as I look into the faces of my four innocent children. With them, I can get thru anything.
A friend of mine gave me a refrigerator magnet a couple years ago that reads “I can survive any crisis, I have kids.” I’ve always chuckled reading it from time to time as it has remained on my refrigerator door, and it is meant to humor people. Now I look at it in a different light. I still chuckle, but now I give a knowing nod and remind myself “yes, I really can survive any crisis.” Thank goodness I do have kids, without them, I would be grieving differently.
I’ve chosen to be open and honest about my dads' death. What I’m feeling and what I’m going thru with whoever asks as it is vital to talk about your feelings. When I’m crying or just down, my kids now have a better understanding as to why. I often say my dad took my happy, but my children bring it back simply by being them.
I hope and pray this has taught them to be open about their feelings as they know Grandpa wasn’t about his. I hope and pray they will remember seeing me in this kind of pain so later in life if they ever have the feelings my dad did, they remember the pain that was inflicted on those who loved him by his decision, and to always know to ask for help, and there is nothing wrong in doing so. These lessons I feel I have already taught my children, but maybe, just maybe this particular subject will hit home even more for them when they are old enough to really understand it all.
They say suicide is a selfish decision, a permanent solution to a temporary problem. I feel like it is a lifetime sentence to those who are left behind. Thru this, I have met dozens of people who are still attending support groups after losing someone to suicide up to over 40 years ago. It changes you. You do not fully recover, you just learn to deal with it better over time.
I sincerely encourage others to look within your selves for strength. We are all stronger than we realize. I especially learned just how strong I can be for my children, and that the answers I seek to make sense of what has happened is an attempt for closure – it is a journey, not a destination. It will take time to walk the path toward healing…there is no timeline, it will happen as it is meant to as we all grieve in our own time and in our own way.
So each day as I’m literally tripping over kids, in their attempt to get my attention, I am reminded that they need me to. I am still here. It is my dad that is gone. I cannot let my dad’s decision to take his life consume mine, take over and affect the people I love that need me healthy and happy as I continue to live my life. I believe in the power to choose…I choose to live, no matter what crisis is thrown my way.
Written by Tera Williams in loving memory of my Dad, John S. Moore.
Please visit www.nspscnd.epetitions.net to support A National Suicide Prevention Strategy for Canada.
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