At the time of the Olympic games in Beijing our grief was still quite raw. When these Olympic games started it had been a little more than a year since Maria's tragic death from mixed narcotic toxicity following her surgery that from all practical purposes she should have survived. The year following her death was filled with a deep depression filled with bouts of anger toward the medical system who I felt let us down.
As a man I wanted this second year to be one where I would once again feel normal. However, we learned from others who have lost kids that it is the second year of the loss that is often the most painful. I share this with you not to make you sad, but to allow you to get a glimpse at what it is like to lose a child. Since our loss I have learned that Maria's death had a profound impact on the community around us. I guess kids will do that to us. They are innocent little beings worthy of being protected and cherished and when one of their lives is lost prematurely it has a profound impact on us.
Whereas the China Olympics were incredible from the start of the opening ceremonies those of us in grief that year were not able to fully take it in as we would like to take it in. But we did watch the Olympics that year and we did celebrate the victories and the gold medal achievements of our American Athletes.
A friend of mine told me that we will never get over the loss of our daughter, but it will get better. I clung to those words as I travel the grief journey one day at a time and as I traveled I was introduced to people who were just starting off on their own grief journeys. My pain was being used to encourage others new to their pain.
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