A Part of Our Lives Surviving the Suicide of a Loved One

A young man of twenty-six takes his own life one Friday morning when he should have been going to work. No signs of anything wrong viewed by me (his mother). He got up, had a wash and cleaned his teeth and shouted his goodbyes, just like any other day.

Suicide is a word that grips you when you see it, more so if you have been affected by it, and the aftermath is horrendous. This is my story of the effects it had and continues to have on myself and my other son. Life is not and cannot be the same again for either of us. The ups and the downs are something we have had to learn to live with, along with the questions that never cease and can never be answered, though I will probably keep looking for some sort of answer until the end of my days.

I found that there was not much help out there for us as a family to deal with the aftermath. Although this story is about Steven and written from my insight and views, I hope it will be of some help to anyone starting out on this terrible journey life has thrown at us, even if it’s only to assure you. You are not losing your mind. The things you’re feeling are quite normal for the tragic situation you’ve been left to face.

My heart and my love go out to every one of you because this is one group of people that we don’t want to be part of, but unfortunately we have had no choice in the matter. Life does go on, and while we know it will never be the same again, you will learn how to live with this pain and loss.