How does it feel to lose a parent in your teens?

My dad died of cancer when I was 19. His death was sudden, he lived only 16 weeks after his initial diagnosis. For YEARS after he died, I felt as if I had to relearn my own existence in the world as one of the pillars that upheld my very perspective crumbled overnight. read more

When you lose a parent in your teens, you become “the guy with the dead parent” and it can affect your social life in many ways, both positive and negative, but either way you cannot escape that your most hurtful experience in life is suddenly also what defines you in the eyes of people that you crave acceptance from. read more

It feels like sadness at every birthday, every Mother’s Day, and later on a humid August day in a Catholic church you don’t belong in. It feels like heartache at graduation, when you see a mother put lipstick on her daughter for the first time at a makeup counter, when you picture your wedding and know your mother will not be there. read more

If you feel like a coward, you should forgive yourself. It might be easier said than done, but there are more grievous sins one can commit. 15. Watching your parent die and knowing there’s nothing you can do about it. That thought is enough to blow anyone’s mind to pieces. read more

It feels like sadness at every birthday, every Mother’s Day, and later on a humid August day in a Catholic church you don’t belong in. read more