Two years ago, Gianna Rose left our arms forever. The time since then has been the darkest of our lives. Confusion, shock, denial, depression, emptiness, confusion, anger. You name it. We have felt it. The death of a child is cataclysmic: it rocks your world, your foundation, leaving no stone untouched or unturned. The world is different after you lose a child. Everything is different. It is extraordinarily difficult to communicate just how different it is. The world suddenly is a place full of triggers in places and moments that you would least expect it. Things people say, things that you see, memories that pop into your head out of the blue, a song, a little child, practically anything, can trigger you and cause an emotional landslide, leaving you extremely vulnerable in potentially the most inopportune places. Welcome to your “new normal”.
Gianna’s story is miserably sad and tragic. We lived every parent’s worst nightmare. But what compounds the horror of her death is the fact that we bear her story alone. In the wise words of Maya Angelou, “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside of you.”
We have decided that it is time to share her full story and our journey. It might not be pretty but it will be real. And through our honest and candid sharing, our Gianna Rose will be honored and remembered. Sharing can be very powerful. People tend to devalue what they feel and experience, and suddenly, when you hear someone else express their story, one’s own story somehow takes on value. The same can happen for those who share. In that way this telling of our story helps us to heal. Hopefully nobody who has lost a child feels their story has no value, but regardless, we want everyone to know that it has infinite value. [Read more…]
