I could not have known on September 11, 2001 that my experience in Downtown Manhattan watching the Twin Towers fall and the subsequent weeks of disarray in the East Village would prepare me to learn the biggest lesson in the wake of my infant son Finlay’s inexplicable death at the end of labor. This lesson…
-
This Often Lonely Road: On Being An Angel Dad
Continue...Child loss is a lonely world, you go through it alone or at best with your partner. You and your partner are the only ones who will get what is going on in your circumstances. You could have 100’s of family and friends but when it comes to child loss unless one of them has…
-
Straight Talk About A Convoluted Situation: Suicide
Continue...Guest Post by William R. Newhouse. Bio: Retired engineer. Former Naval officer. Married. One natural son (died) and two stepsons. 68 years old. Eleven years ago my 19-year-old son committed suicide. The article below is something I wrote to try and educate others as to how to interact with a parent who has lost a…
-
Don’t Tell Us Not To Worry: A Dad Shares On Pregnancy After Loss
Continue...I feel that it is important to share my experience on Pregnancy After Loss. Some may think that it is a strange thing to say: a Dad being stressed about pregnancy because you don’t grow the baby. That is indeed true but I stood side by side with my wife Emily while she was pregnant…
-
Raising the Next Generation of Grievers
Continue...The Ice Cream Incident The tub of strawberry ice cream is on the counter. Next to it, rainbow sprinkles, banana slices, and the bottle of chocolate syrup are all lined up. Using the step stool, my daughter places a stack of bowls on the counter, and I grab spoons as she counts: “one, two, three…
-
A Father’s Perspective: Returning To Work After Loss
Continue...I’ve lost my daughter – but I have to go back to work. I’ve lost my son – but I have to go back to work. You have to do it. At some point, you will have to do it. I count myself very lucky. I work for an amazing employer; Wesco Aircraft. The day…
-
Dads Grieve Too – And They Need Other Grieving Dads
Continue...Dads grieve too. The women in our loss community say it often and we say it with such passion. Dads grieve too. However, right after we finish that statement the discomfort settles in. A question inevitably arises: Yes, dads grieve but how do we support them in their grief? There’s a lot we, as…
