November 17, 2015

Grief Website

http://howdoigoon.org

A few years ago I was invited to a widows conference. I didn’t go. Then the same women invited me to come meet up to talk about a project they were working on to help other widows. I was already going to be in Utah for a few speaking engagements so I made arrangements to attend.

We all met up at a cabin and spent the night sharing stories and ideas about things that would have helped us through the loss of our spouses.

As I looked around the room—it was full of beautiful things. Four woman—all young moms—who had been through the death of their spouse. It almost didn’t seem fair. We had all been through that pain. We had all felt completely alone at times. We had all stood on top of a grave of the man we thought would be by our side through our life.

In that moment, I almost wished I could step back a few years and have these women by my side as I fumbled my way through grief. How would the process have been different, if I knew back then that I wasn’t alone?

I knew I had to be a part of the mission we had all come together to complete—we just had to figure out where to begin.

And that is where a website was a born. How do I go on?

It has been a great blessing to be a part of the building of this grief website. It has been quite the process and I am amazed at the work and diligence that has been given by these special women. A few years ago we all met as widows with the drive to make a difference for others who had been where we had been, but have watched this project bloom into something amazing. This website began as a resource for widows grieving the loss of their spouses, but has blossomed into a resource for anyone who is experiencing a loss in their life.  

When coping with grief, it is easy to feel alone, broken, and isolated. This website is to help combat that darkness and help others find hope in their pain. There are stories from all phases of the grieving process to help through these struggles. Job loss, death, divorce, infidelity, heart break, war, and depression, etc. Sometimes a loss is simply realizing you will not live the life you always thought you would. Many things we lose in life are hard to put into words, but the pain is still real. 


We all will at one time or another experience a loss of some kind. Grief, and its misery, does not have to break us. I hope this website can lighten the loads that we carry, and bring peace to our hearts. 




http://howdoigoon.org

1 comments:

Veronica Clarke said...

Thanks so much Ashlee, it has been a blessing to find you. As I have read your story and countless others I realize that we have a power to help each other. As hard as this journey has been, that has been the joyful part... Seeing how others lift me and how we in tune can lift them. Thanks for being part of this :)

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