Whether or not you've had any previous experience with grief, the loss of your child (grandchild, nephew, best friend's baby) can be very overwhelming and scary. Many parents who have lost a child feel like they are going crazy. Be assured, you are not going crazy. Grief is a path full of more pain and emotion than you ever imagined was possible.

In the near future, I will be posting more helpful information about grief. For now, you can read this poem for mothers, this poem for fathers, and this essay on what parents wish people understood about the loss of their child (I emailed this one to friends and family).

"You don't have to try to immediately make sense of it all. Because grief is a weird and winding path. It's got rest stops and potholes, with different depths of rage and despair. The path might become smoother, and it might never come to an end. But the biggest thing is, you won't be staying forever in one spot. You are going to move on."

--Kathie Scobee Fulgham
--daughter of the Challenger's commander, Francis Scobee
--in People Magazine 2/17/03