I decided to channel my grief into helping others.
As I started to think about the rather complicated relationship I had with my father, I realized a lot of it was complex. And it was because my father was a complex individual. He grew up in Watts during the 1950s. He could vividly recall life before the Civil Rights Movement and how he participated in the Black Power movement.
He was a tough and strict father, and sometimes he led with an iron fist. But when he did love, he loved hard. Over the last 18 months of my father’s life, we had a great relationship. Sometimes I wonder if we still had a contentious relationship, if I would’ve mourned the way I did.
Grief is a complicated thing. You go through a lot of valleys and highs and you’re never really prepared for the swell of emotions that can come at any time. It’s different from mourning Ethan (my first child who died at birth). Ethan never had a chance to live a full life so I will forever mourn what could’ve been. Whereas my father had a full and healthy life and I can fondly look back at everything.
I created this journal to help both myself and others, and I hope you can use it or recommend it to someone who needs it.
Inside the journal are pages to recall your favorite memory of someone who’d passed, a song that reminds you of them, and what you miss about them the most.
It’s a short journal – only 37 pages – but I hope it’s something you can utilize as you process through the tough time of grief.
To purchase, click the link below: