How Have Things Changed After A Year?

By Deborah Cross Werner

First of all, I don’t cry every day, but…

Our hearts are still broken after 14 months. The pain never leaves and we miss Jamie so much. He was such a presence with so much energy, whether it was positive or negative. If he was upbeat and feeling good we knew it would be a fantastic evening; if he was down we knew things might not go so well.

So what has changed? I guess you could say things will never return to the old normal. We have to find a “new normal” and we clearly are still working on that. We have been able to get through the holidays and birthdays without our Jamie. We have kept some of our old traditions but have also started some new practices. We are beginning to move forward, not on. As a parent I will never move on; my son will always be in my broken heart by my side and in my thoughts. We must move forward. It would be disrespectful to Jamie to stay stuck. He never ever would want us to cease living. He loved life too much to see his family never feel joy, happiness and good times again. This observation has taken a lot of soul-searching on my part. I did want to shrivel up and die for a long time. I did not think I could go on but after a while I realized Jamie would hate that!

My belief in the afterlife and all the signs I get from Jamie, (almost daily) have helped me to move forward. It also helps, so much, as a parent to see my two remaining children finding a new normal, living life, finding happiness and experiencing all the good things they deserve in this world.

In no way am I suggesting that I still don’t experience overwhelming loss, loss that is so intense it takes my breath away. I have just learned how to deal with it for Jamie and the rest of my family- this is our “new normal”.