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There is no deeper sense of abandonment than the feelings provoked by a parent’s suicide.  It can be tempting to quickly respond to such pain with:  “It is not your fault. Your parent is in a better place. It’s ok because I love you.”

When Barb’s husband committed suicide, she and her four children were crushed. In the process of grieving, Barb shares the poetry of her oldest daughter Edie. At one point Edie writes, “I want to run and hide from all the tears and pain. But there’s nowhere that you didn’t touch that I can find today.”  In encouraging her daughter’s writing, Barb created space for Edie to voice everything weighing on her heart.  Barb listened to and affirmed the truth of her daughter’s hurt.

Can you sit and listen to a young adult’s hurt without trying to fix it?