Identity as a Bereaved Parent
![It’s another sort of loss.](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/LQ5d_qG0T40/maxresdefault.jpg)
It’s another sort of loss.
Grief counselor Nancy Frumer Styron talks about the complex number of roles a parent takes on as they care for a child with a life-limiting illness, And how the roles change again when the child dies: for parents who have no other surviving children, “Am I still a parent?” “Now I am a bereaved parent — a club no one wants to belong to.” A bereaved mom talks about her identity after her son’s death and about how that identity is forever changed.
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A mother and nurse’s personal journey to palliative care advocate.
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Writing the book- Living Well with a Serious Illness
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Grief in Bereavement: “Sitting through the state of loneliness.”
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Continuing to talk about your child after their death
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CPN's In the Room: Continuing Bonds and Honoring Your Child's Legacy
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Mom: Through all of our painful experiences we do give birth to a strength
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Writing as healing, during her life and in bereavement: “It forced us to be with our Grief … And now it’s a portal to her.”
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Death of the only child: We went from being parents to just not being parents.
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Grief in Bereavement - Continuing bonds: over time, the bonds become less externalized and more internalized.
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"I think we all work best when we don’t expect each other to change the core of who we are.”
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Something broke inside of me when he died.
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Our son and this experience still push us to rise and be the most actualized versions of ourselves possible.
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“You do learn these incredibly profound lessons and I think that we have a responsibility to share that.”
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Bereavement: This is very isolating. You don’t wake up and forget. We are holding on to what we know.
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A bereaved father on the pressure parents feel to be changed to perfect.
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Sanfilippo /MPS: The dreaded question. How many children do you have?
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You can't ever be fully ready. (Sanfilippo)
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Answering the question, "How many kids do you have?"
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You don't owe anyone an explanation and you don't have to feel good every day.
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Give yourself permission to go on with your life.
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I feel like I need to be a better person.
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I am entirely who I am today because of Ben.
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I still talk to my network all the time.
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It’s another sort of loss.
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People wonder how they are changed by the death of their child.
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One chapter is finished and another is about to begin.
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"Now I have deep conversations about the burdens people carry."
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After people see how we handled death, they see death differently.
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He should be 8. I should be at Little League games.
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