Immediately after the death of a child, it’s hard to imagine ever feeling joy again or celebrating family milestones or parenting effectively.
What everyone needs after the death of a child is hope. The hope that happy memories will one day outweigh the heartbreak of loss and pockets of contentment may return. That the pain and suffering will ebb and flow rather than cut deeply on waking each morning.
The hope that in future we can walk through life and shoulder grief, rather than be overshadowed by it.
Here families bravely share their stories. They reflect on their loved child, their own personal journeys and what, if anything, has helped them cope with devastating loss. They hope it will help you.
Rowan aged 19
I sometimes think that Row was put on this earth to disperse happiness and make people feel better about themselves. He lived his life to the fullest without wasting a minute. If someone had of said to him “Row, you’ve only got 19 years so make the most of it” he wouldn’t have been able […]
Peter aged 18
Peter is my baby. He is the much-loved younger brother of Emily and Jacob. His passion is to make people laugh and strangle his Dad as much as possible! Peter’s sole focus was to be with his family and love life! He did both. Peter was 6’5’’ of gorgeousness. This sounds like the words of […]
Teina aged 17
Teina Lee Terei is the youngest of three boys, his brother Dalton and Jack adore him and could never get enough of him. My name is Debbie and I’m his one and only mum and his dad Pio (as Teina wrote in a school paper) is “a funny person, who always has your back and […]
Michael aged 20
Bouncing around the room buzzing; getting ready for the day… how many coffees today I wondered to myself. Would I beat yesterday’s record? Could I send another text to my boy, boasting about my skills as a Barista, having done around 300 coffees the previous day. All of these thoughts were happily circling in my […]
Michael aged 20 – a siblings story
October 12th, a day that lives in my head and will do until the day I die. Sometimes it’s there as a distant memory, something that’s in the back of my head, and occasionally a moment comes to the surface, and I can push it away. Other times it’s like living it again, but I […]
Jess aged 16
Allow me to introduce Jessica Grace O’Keeffe – our only child. Jess is beautiful, funny, kind, popular, highly intelligent and utterly and totally adored by us and the rest of her family and friends. This girl lights up a room when she walks in, laughs loudly, adores nature and is hugely talented. Jess is quirky, […]