Five Things You Think and Feel When You Lose a Sibling to Suicide

1. You immediately start to think of all of the "I'll will never(s)..." I will never get to see him get married. I will never get to see him become a Father. I will never get to be an Aunt to his children, or be the "Cool Aunt" I had hoped to be. I will never get to see him succeed in his career. I will never get to see him live his life to his full potential. I will never get to grow old with him. 
Its easy to overlook all of the beautiful memories we do have together, and the amazing childhood we shared. Because when you are standing in the waters of grief up to your elbows you cannot possibly see the beauty in any situation. This is normal. Don't rush your grieving process. It will come and will transform when you least expect it. There will be good days and there will be bad days, and that's ok. 

2. Overpowering fear. Pure, bull bodied, paralyzing fear. Could this happen to me? Could I wake up one day and decide I've had enough?  Why did this  happen? After all, how could someone who was so popular, handsome, jovial, successful, charming, and thoughtful take his life? I think the answer to this is even more complicated than we could comprehend. A lot of Sibling Survivors ask, "Could this happen to me?" I think the short answer is probably not. And even though there is a link to suicide in families that doesn't mean you will follow the same path. 

3. Will my parents be ok? My parents are some of the strongest people I know but, after my brother died I wondered how our once 4-legged table of a family  would stay upright when one of the legs were missing. There has been some tipping and unwavering moments but we have not fallen. I'm not sure if they will ever be "Ok", but they are slowly learning to live their lives in a "new normal". Does that mean there aren't days were they can't get out of bed because they pain is just too much? No. It means they are doing the best they can with what they have. Everyone handles grief differently, and no two people follow the same path of grief. Be gentle with yourself and with your parents. 

4. I don't have any living siblings. Now what am I supposed to do without my brother?  Does this mean I am an only child? I don't know but its terrifying as all hell. Those words break my heart more I could ever tell you. My best advice is to build a support network. No one in the world will ever replace your sibling, but people who love you can make your journey through life more graceful. I keep in regular contact with my brother's best friend and am looking forward to seeing him get married this summer. We wrote me a letter for my birthday last year to tell me that he will always be here for me in the absence of my brother. It meant so much to me. My sister in- law has been nothing short of an amazing blessing for me these passed few months. I don't know what I would do without her. She constantly goes out of her way to support me and show me that she loves me. Having her as my "sibling" has made my dark situation tolerable. Surround yourself with people who love you and you will be surprised what will come of it. 

5. The funeral is over, and all of the constant check ins from friends and family have stopped. Now what? This is another common topic. When something happens your community, family, and friends flock to you during your time of "need". What I don't think people realize is that just because three, six, nine months or even years have passed doesn't suddenly mean you don't need support anymore. And in some ways you may need more support now than you did immediately following a tragedy. Shock wears off with time and true grief starts to set in. Try to keep yourself busy and find something that you are passionate about doing. Filling my time with giving back to the community and doing random acts of kindness make me happy. I raised almost $4,000 for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention last year and hope to be involved on a volunteer level this year. Find support groups either online or in person. Its unbelievably soothing to talk with someone who "knows how you feel." Healing takes time and grief is never truly over but taking care of yourself is the best thing you can do. 

Mommy, how far away is Heaven?

Chancellor and I were in Estes Park for the 4th of July last year just like I had spent almost every 4th of July since I was a little girl. I have very blissful memories of Alex and I running around Lake Estes and having KFC picnics with our parents and their good friends Patty and Jim.  I had a few close friends over to celebrate good ole Independence Day at my grandparents cabin.  All of the kids were sprinting around and splashing  in water buckets and the adults were busy barbequing a feast fit for a king. You could say it was a very stereotypical summer celebration. The next day after the festivities I cleaned the house, and started to pack up our bags to go home. As I was headed into the house to get the last bag  Chancellor was standing in the doorway. I smiled and him and he looked at me very worried. "Did Uncle die?" A felt like someone had knocked the wind out of me. A million thoughts raced through my head. Did he over hear someone talking about Alex? Does he know what that means? What the hell should I say?! So I quickly decided I wanted to always be honest, but wanted the information that he receives to be age appropriate. I bent down so he could see my eyes and softly said, "Yes. Uncle died, but you don't have to worry about him because he is safe now and he is in heaven."  He didn't ask more questions that day, and I can't tell you how relieved I was.
I'm sure you are wondering, "Didn't he go to the funeral?" No. He did not go to the funeral, nor the rosary, nor the viewing. The biggest reason being that at the time he did not understand what dead means. He had no conception of death, or what the true finality of death meant. I did not feel like it was appropriate to expose him to something that he simply could not understand. The other reason was that I did not want him to worry about me. I was an absolute wreck the weeks following Alex's death. I couldn't eat, I couldn't remember to drink water, and I could not stop crying. When I did finally sleep my husband said I cried the entire night. I could literally feel my heart splitting in my chest. I didn't want Chancellor to see me like that. Allowing a babysitter to watch him during the services gave me the energy to focus on my parents and focus on my own grief. Taking care of a toddler is challenging while trying to grieve.
Days have passed and the seasons have changed, but Alex is still gone. My Mom made a picture album filled with smiling pictures of Chancellor and Alex together. They really thought the world of each other. Chancellor looks at the album often and we talk about what they were doing in each picture. He knows that his Uncle was brave, strong, played the guitar, was a sucker for saying yes, and was the world's BEST wrestler. I will do anything to keep his memory alive for Chancellor, because Alex deserves that. 
New Year's Eve brought out the fireworks in full force in my neighborhood. There was explosion after explosion for hours. Every time I would hear a BANG, my heart sank. I hated it.  Chancellor was scared too and asked if he could come cuddle in my bed, and of course I obliged. The fireworks continued for the next couple of nights and like clockwork Chancellor crawled into bed with me. 
This morning as I was getting out of the shower Chancellor was still laying in my bed. He sat up and said, "Mommy, how far away is heaven?" Curious to what he was thinking I said, "Its very far away. Why do you ask?"  He explained that he wanted to see his Uncle and if we could just go visit him in Heaven that we could tell him he needs to go to the doctor. And if he goes to the doctor then he won't be sick anymore and he can come home. Right? I could feel my entire body move while I let out a sigh of heartbreak   "No baby he can't come home and I am so sorry."  Lord knows, I wish it was that easy. There my sweet blue eyed baby sat so innocent and naïve to the evils of this world wondering what in the world he had to do just so he could visit his Uncle. Explaining Heaven and not being able to see someone he so much loved and cherished is difficult. As he grows things will start to come together and make more sense, and when that time comes I will be here to answer all of the hard questions that will come along with it. In the meantime I will be forever grateful of the strong relationship that Chancellor and Alex shared, and that we will always have him in our lives. Either on Earth or in Heaven, our love remains the same. 

An Apology to My Friends and Family

This year has possibly turned me into the world worst communicator and an even worse organizer than I previously was. Hell, I even bought TWO, yes two of the same presents for my son for Christmas. I bought them, wrapped them, and placed them underneath the same Christmas tree. It wasn't until we were unwrapping them Christmas day that I had realized it. Thankfully there was so much going on he didn't even notice. What I am trying to say is that my mind is running on overdrive. My anxiety is causing me to run a marathon that has no ending.
No one likes to talk about mental illness for the fear of judgement, for fear of fulfilling some stigma, or maybe because they are in denial. Maybe you think people will assume you are weak, or unable to cope with the struggles of life. How can you face what's going on without bringing it to the forefront of your life? It really is ok, to not be ok. The sooner you face your struggles the sooner you can work through them. Since my early teenage years  I have struggled with anxiety and depression. This for the most part I outgrew into adult hood and was able to function without medication or even a second thought to what it previously was. This was until Alex died. Since then my anxiety has reared its ugly head. It makes it challenging for me to organize my thoughts, to get things done, to be productive, to make plans with anyone, or heaven forbid I have to go to a place with a lot of people. Hell  if we are being honest it makes it a challenge to even leave my house on a daily basis. I am working with a wonderful doctor and think I have finally found something that is starting to work. That being said, I haven't been the best friend, daughter, cousin, niece, granddaughter, and employee that I wish to be. Please be patient with me. 
If I don't answer your call, text, instant message, voicemail, or email its not because I don't love you or want to talk to you. 
If I cancel plans at the last minute or say that I can't do something it's not because I don't want to see you. 
If you sent me a Christmas card and I did not reply its not because I wasn't grateful. 
I've missed the opportunity to see my best friends baby, and I'm missing a dear friends wedding this week. I feel so guilty. My lack of communication probably makes it seem like I don't care but I do care, I do love you, and I'm sorry. Please don't stop calling, don't stop texting, don't stop loving me. And most importantly please don't stop saying Alex's name. Its because of you all that I have the strength to persevere, grow, to have hope, and to choose joy.