My letter to those who've experienced loss

Dear Parent of the child who went too soon,

Your prayers during your pain can move mountains. Right now you may have a mountain in front of you and within you, but I want you to know something: it will be okay again. There will be tough terrain and upward climbs, but there will also be downward slopes and green pastures. I know for some it may be hard to understand and fully grasp, but you are on a journey of making a comeback. Let this be the comeback story that releases you into your destiny. Let it remove what already has entangled you; let it mold you and shape you; let it be the story that takes the tape off over you mouth and releases your voice.

These are reflections over the course of 3 years from the week after my loss and the 3 year anniversary of my daughter's transition to glory. I am a trauma therapist who has experience not only working with trauma, but actually walking through trauma. I had plenty of issues I was proactively working towards before losing Norah, and her death caused a complete upheaval in my life that has forever changed me. And you know the surprising part? I feel like I am a better woman today, not because it was supposed to happen, but because it did happen.

Through these pages you will see me triumph, fall flat on my face, stumble, be strong, be vulnerable, be broken, and be made whole. I pray you have already given yourself the permission to be what it is you need to be...and if you haven't, please, do it for yourself. Let yourself be carried. You have permission to feel what you need to and you have the strength to be carried, to stumble, to walk, and to run again. With God's help, you will run again. And it will be stronger and faster than before because He promises to return all that was lost and then some.

With great love,
Nancy