First Man is a story of a grief stricken astronaut trying to recover while being the first man to walk on the moon.

Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. Isaiah 31:10

1961, NASA test pilot Neil Armstrong is flying the X-15 rocket plane when it inadvertently bounces off the atmosphere. Although he manages to land the plane in the Mojave Desert, his colleagues express concern that his recent record of mishaps is due to distraction and he is grounded.


His two-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Karen, is undergoing treatment for a brain tumor. Desperate to save her, Armstrong keeps a detailed log of her symptoms and feverishly tries to find possible treatments, but she dies soon afterward in the year 1961.There was one scene where we saw Niel Armstrong weep for his daughter, but when he was done he put her bracelet away and focused on the task at hand.


Still, grief-stricken Neil Armstrong applies for the Gemini space program. He and his wife Janet and their young son move to Houston to be near the rest of the Astronaut families.


The movie shows the distant relationship with his wife. . I speculate that she wanted Niel to grieve with her for the loss of their daughter. Niel chose to grieve alone and have other children to replace the one he lost.His pain stayed with him through much of his space career. Not until he reached the surface of the moon in 1968 did he release the pain of losing his child by throwing her wrist bracelet into a deep crater.


In one scene following the Apollo space capsule fire that burned alive Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee, Karen Armstrong sees the grieving widow of Gus Grissom and walks over to comfort her as she stood looking at the empty trunk of her car. You had this sense she understood the pain she was experiencing and knew instantly she needed someone to acknowledge her pain.


I learned that unless we process the pain of our grief, our grief waits, and waits, and waits. Which is why it is so important to find 'trusted' listeners who are willing to sit down with you in the muck and mire of your grief- and listen until you have told your story enough times where the story no longer elicits strong emotional reactions.


Today, we have more grief support programs to help people experiencing this pain. One such program I've had the privilege to facilitate is Grief Share. This is a 13-week program that helps people go through the pain, not around it. The beautiful part of this program is that there are groups located everywhere and by simply typing in your zip code at the https://www.griefshare.org you will find a group near you.


While you may struggle with the 'why's' of your loss you can survive and recover from that pain. As a Christian believer, I know that if you cry out to God that He will come alongside you to walk with you through this pain.


Our God truly is an amazing God.