loss

More importantly, when we lose our spouses, even if we’re at our worst, our friends and family need to come closer, not leave us to ourselves. Try reaching out to a recent widow even if you don’t know her very well.

Nothing is ever a mistake.

Miscarriage steals your ability to prepare for the future, to trust your body, your mind, and your support system.

He told me there was nothing we could have done. He told me it happens sometimes. But it had never happened to me, so none of that mattered.

"Writing about trauma or difficult experiences doesn’t repair that trauma,” said Melanie. “It doesn’t make it go away. But I kept hearing what a transformative thing it was for [the memoirists] to shape these stories into something that they could be proud of.”

I have a lifetime of momless moments ahead of me, but I’ve prepared for those since her death. What I hadn’t prepared for was that I’d have to celebrate one of those milestones on a day that I typically spend in mourning.

Death, we know because it’s drilled into us from an early age, is a natural part of life.

When a bereaved mother is left alone, how deep into the recesses of her mind does she wander? Does she surface for air? Does she want to come out at all?