When Your Child Dies...

When your child dies you suffer life’s most devastating loss. What happens to you is worse than anything you can imagine. When your child dies, a part of you dies with them, and you spiral down into hell on earth. Nothing can prepare you for the pain you feel, and you lose your will to live. The sad part is that you keep waking up every morning to face another day without your child. How do you deal with such devastating pain and grief without losing your mind? How do you go on? What is the meaning of life now? Even though you may have surviving children, a spouse, relatives, friends, and your career, everything is changed now. You will never see life the same again.

My child, Dawn, died at the age of 35 on March 28, 2007 after giving birth to my third grandchild. I couldn’t function for two years after that. I lost my career as a real estate agent, I lost both houses that I owned and most of my possessions. I tried to put my life back together, but found that there are very few resources available for bereaved parents.

Doctors, psychologists, and everyone else wants to put bereaved parents in the same category as others who have lost loved ones. We are not in the same category, because the death of a child is the one loss that is unnatural. You can expect to outlive a spouse, a sibling, or a parent, but outliving your child just shouldn’t happen. When it does, the world seems backward and everything is strange. Eating, driving a car, laughing, and other familiar things seem strange now. It’s like you are living on another planet and have to learn about things all over again. You have to adjust to a new world without your child.

As I stated earlier, when I finally got to a point where I was tired of grieving and ready to put my life back together, I found very few resources  for bereaved parents. It seems like it’s just an issue that no one wants to deal with. In today’s world when children (adult children included) are dying at an alarming rate, something has to be done for the parents left behind to grieve. I found out that every year in the U.S. alone 50,000 children under the age of 30 die leaving behind 100,000 grieving parents. Since no one else wants to address this issue, I decided to do it myself. I created a website called www.grief2joy.com that will help bereaved parents to put their lives back together and discover what their life should be without their child.

The purpose of www.grief2joy.com is to help parents who have suffered the loss of a child. Although the main focus is on parents dealing with the death of a child, this web site can be used by anyone who has had a devastating loss of any kind. Maybe you have lost a good friend, your spouse, a sibling, your job, your business, your home, or perhaps you have gone through a divorce. www.grief2joy.com can help you rebuild your life regardless of the type of loss.

There’s no need to stay depressed, hopeless, and feel like your life is over. It could be just beginning with www.grief2joy.com. We have some wonderful plans for bereaved parents. Please visit the web site and tell us what you think. We value your opinion and will respond if you have questions or concerns

Jacqui Nock

What are You Doing?

I want to know what other grieving parents are doing to honor their child. I created a web site in honor of my child, Dawn, who died five years ago after giving birth. So, what are you doing to honor your child? Visit my web site and tell me what you think. I hope you find something you like there. Jacqui www.dawnslegacy.org

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When Your Child Dies - Spiritual Support

When my daughter and only child Dawn died on March 28, 2007, I knew that I could not survive without my faith. In the beginning it doesn't help much because of the deep despair and pain I was in. Once time move on, I had to realize that God has a reason for everything, so l wanted to find God's purpose for my life now, and how my experience can help others. For me seeking spiritual support while dealing with Dawn's death has made rebuilding my life much easier.

As humans, we are created by God as three-part beings--body, mind and spirit. We mostly focus on trying to maintain our health and sanity when we're grieving. That is very important, but there is a spiritual side to healing, too. Surviving the death of a child is the greatest challenge you will face in life. In order for you to be made whole again, you need to address and rebuild all aspects of your life--body, mind and spirit. Once you find that balance, your healing will begin to move along faster. I know we will never get over the death of our children, but we have to find meaning for the rest of our lives.

Some of you may already have your hands full with a spouse and other children, but as an older single woman, Dawn and my grandkids were my life. When I lost Dawn, it was like I lost half of my life and my identity. Of course, I still have my grandkids, but I had to rebuild my life without Dawn. it's so hard, because I see her in them and they don't even know her. My granddaughter Ashley was 9 (she remember a little about her mommy), James was 1 and Michael was a day old when their mother died.

There is a Spiritual section on my web site. I hope there's something there that you like. Click Here to see more.

Peace & Blessings!

Loss of Your Child

I am really sorry for the loss of your child. No one knows the depth of what you have been through unless they have had the same loss. I lost my only child, Dawn, in March 2007 the day after she gave birth to my third grandchild. She was 35 years old. After a while I really got tired of being sad and grieving, so I decided there had to be more to life than this. I was ready to make a change for the better, and once I did, I wanted to share my experience with you.

I created this blog to find other parents who have lost a child. When I read other's stories, I find encouragement and hope. I hope I can offer you the same. I'd like to know what you are doing with your grief, how has your pain transformed your life, and what you're doing to help others.

I created a web site in honor of Dawn (www.dawnslegacy.org). The web site is dedicated to those who have suffered the loss of a loved one, particularly the loss of a child.

After the loss of a child, the biggest question is "why?"  Most people will tell you that there's no answer to that question; but I found the answer. There are people with needs that God created you to fulfill. No one in the world is equipped to do it but YOU. Dawn's Legacy's New Life Lessons are designed to help you find your answer. I hope you will visit my web site  and read my story. I welcome your comments, questions & suggestions.

I look forward to getting to know you and your child. God bless you and yours!