Faith and Family
Giving Thanks When Memories Threaten
How gratitude, a change of scenery, and sharing stories have helped me face the Thanksgiving holiday after my son's suicide.
Confronting Memories My son Gabriel was a Thanksgiving baby. His birthday didn’t fall on the actual holiday until his second birthday, but it does every four years, including the year he died by suicide, 2008. The association between his birthday and our most heartwarming holiday presents both challenges and opportunities for getting through what has become, for me, an emotionally fraught month. When the leaves begin to change color and the air begins to bite, I start wrestling with memories of baking Turkey shaped shortbread cookies for his school celebrations and his favorite apple pie for our family one. The pain of creating new memories that don’t include my son is one I don’t think will ever subside entirely. Giving Thanks and Finding…
In this Article:
Marguerite Ziemba
6:40 pm on Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Re: Christine Scheller's article. I, too, feel your pain. In 2001 my son, Nathan, committed suicide. One of our friends said something that is true to me..."It's something you never get over, you just learn to live with it." What has helped me get through the holidays and every other day is my spiritual understanding of life and death. That, I should say, along with family and friends who have … more ›