A few weeks ago I met a woman, who inspired me to write this article. Her name is Anna, she lost her daughter a few years ago, she died from cancer. I filmed an interview with Anna because now she is working on a documentary about child loss, about parents who are learning to live with a broken heart, about their feelings and challenges.
This documentary is very important because when tragedy happens, people often "close" themselves from others, and on another side, others don't know how to talk to a person who lost their loved one. This becomes difficult and painful for everyone, and that's when connections break even inside a family when one person is feeling lonely in her/his tragedy, and another is afraid to speak about it because doesn't want to hurt more or to say something wrong.
In her documentary, Anna will show stories of people who are living with loss, but they speak about it and explaining their view.
During our interview, she said an important thing. That very often people are being shamed for speaking about their feelings, especially on social media. They ashamed to post photos, memories, thoughts about their loved ones, about their tragedy, and often just stay silent...
But I feel that this is wrong. I love that Anna also said, that she is still a parent, she also has memories that she wants to share, she can't celebrate her daughter's Birthdays anymore, but she wants to remember and write about her. And those words make me think about my own tragedy.
I lost my mom when I was only 12. And since that time, I rarely speak about this. That tragedy changed my life forever, and it was so painful, that it took 10 years for me to learn to talk about my mom without breaking into tears.
But still, I feel that I am on my own in this situation, I can't talk about it freely, because people don't know how to support, or how to react to this, and I don't want to make them uncomfortable by sharing my feelings. Because yes, this topic is not an easy one.
But this is life, and life is not only a positive, but life can also bring joy and love and can bring loss and pain. And I wish that we could learn to speak about both journeys. I wish we could learn not to close in a shell from others.
The most difficult time for me is on Mother's Day. Because I can't call my mom, I can't hug her, I can't express all my feelings. The only opportunity for me to celebrate this day is by sharing my memories... So I hope, that next time those who read this, and experiencing similar feelings, will feel free and don't be ashamed of posting their memories, and those who see it will express their support, not a pity, but support.
Happy Mother's Day! I Love You.