Suicide | Grit and Grace Life

Post-traumatic Growth: Finding Hope on the Other Side

Post-traumatic Growth sounds like an oxymoron; growth after trauma. But after talking with some childhood cancer survivors, I realized I know a lot of people exhibiting this phenomenon. Essentially, it’s the idea that individuals can be changed in radically good ways by their struggle with trauma. This does not diminish the impact of the battle; it just offers hope for the other side. This may seem impossible in the midst of heartache, but I can assure you I have seen lives that prove this true. When the battle’s over, what remains? I’ve talked to several young adults who walk on eggshells because their cancer might return, or are disfigured or disabled by surgeries to remove tumors when they were four or six or […]

Post-traumatic Growth: Finding Hope on the Other Side Read More »

My Dad’s Suicide and the Hole in My Heart

By Darlene Brock / HerStory, Life & Culture

I knew my father was having a difficult time in life. It was so very unlike this man, whose smile warmed the hearts of perfect strangers, to see that smile so infrequently. But at the age of 50, having left his position as an accountant, he could not find a job in his field. There were challenges he was facing that he kept to himself, and the depth of depression that descended upon him was not fully known to those who loved him. That is until the day my mother found him in the garage having taken his life. My father had committed suicide. I was a 23-year-old newlywed living in Nashville, Tennessee when I received the call. This was my daddy.

My Dad’s Suicide and the Hole in My Heart Read More »

When Desperation Comes, Why Choose Suicide?

By Ashley Johnson / Life & Culture

Did you know that one of the most influential pastors and preachers of the Christian faith struggled with depression and even suicidal thoughts? Known as the “Prince of Preachers,” Charles Spurgeon’s work has provided an intangible, yet very real hope for people over the last 100+ years. The same mind that dwelt in dungeons of darkness also created quotes reflecting glimpses of a brilliant light… “Those who dive in the sea of affliction bring up rare pearls.” “By perseverance, the snail reached the ark.” “Our infirmities become the black velvet on which the diamond of God’s love glitters all the more brightly.” Sounds like a man who is able to find and focus on the good no matter how hard the bad.

When Desperation Comes, Why Choose Suicide? Read More »

Suicide Isn’t Easily Understood, But You Need to Know This

By Amanda-Lee Pitzer / Life & Culture

“Wow. I just gotta say, suicide is such a selfish decision. I can’t believe anyone would do that to someone else.” I stood there in shock. I don’t know why—she said the same thing I have said dozens of times in the past. But this time I heard those words from a different point of view. I understand suicide so much differently than I did just a few years ago. Becoming a widow due to suicide changes you; it carries so much guilt and shame, and it is suffocating. However, in time, as I stood back and picked through the wreckage, I began to find little puzzle pieces scattered about. Sometimes, those pieces were only parts of pieces, charred as my world

Suicide Isn’t Easily Understood, But You Need to Know This Read More »

After Losing My Husband To Suicide, One Good Man Restored Our Family

By Amanda-Lee Pitzer / Audio Articles, Relationships

(Listen to the audio version of this article here.) “I miss Daddy.” When I hear those words, I feel like someone took my heart and tossed it on the floor. Like a glass falling onto tile, my heart shatters into a million pieces. My big, brave 10-year-old, who has always been very mature for his age, turns back into a little boy that just wants his daddy back. I try so hard to hold the tears back as I watch his fall onto his cheeks. He has told me on more than one occasion that I’m not allowed to cry in front of him. It’s the night before a brand new school year, and my normally confident boy is a bundle of

After Losing My Husband To Suicide, One Good Man Restored Our Family Read More »

My Husband Fought for His Nation, But Lost a Battle at Home

By Amanda-Lee Pitzer / HerStory, Life & Culture

My family and I love going to Washington D.C. I’ve gone countless times since I was a kid, especially because my dad did so much work there when I was younger. This past October, my husband and I took a trip to D.C. sans-kids. It was probably the best trip we’ve had since our honeymoon. He had this obsession with John F. Kennedy’s assassination, so we decided to map out all the homes in Georgetown connected to the family. Of course, the closet realtor in me also had Zillow pulled up as I wanted to know how much these historic homes went for—and what they looked like inside. When we went to see the Declaration of Independence (something he had never seen),

My Husband Fought for His Nation, But Lost a Battle at Home Read More »

This is How My Son's Suicide Rocked My Faith

My Faith Was Rocked by My Son’s Suicide

By Carla Howatt / HerStory, Life & Culture

The world as I knew it ended on July 19, 2015. It was a day that shook my faith and my sanity. I walked into the basement suite in my home. My son was renting the suite from us and I needed to talk to him. I found him lying on his side, in the fetal position. He had a rifle between his legs. He was lying in a puddle. The puddle was black, and it took me a split second for it to sink in that it was blood. I turned on my heels and ran back upstairs, screaming and sobbing for my husband to call 911. The next few hours were a blur of police, emergency personnel, and the coroner’s

My Faith Was Rocked by My Son’s Suicide Read More »

If Suicide Has Touched Your Life, This Is for You

By The Grit and Grace Team / Life & Culture

Few things tear more deeply at the heart than the loss of someone to suicide. When the call comes, and the reality hits, it feels as if futility has thrust its way into your life. Control has been lost, hope shattered, and you are left bereft missing someone you love. Instantly the questions begin. How could he/she? What was so bad that there was no other choice? What could I have done? The “if only’s” run rampant in your heart and mind. Several of the writers at The Grit and Grace Project have walked this life reality. Through their writings, they have shared their stories, revealed their hearts, and offered a glimpse into the world that suicide ushers. The stories told and

If Suicide Has Touched Your Life, This Is for You Read More »

What Are the Unexpected Gifts of Depression? With Melissa Maimone – 095

By Smart Living with Grit and Grace / Podcast

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Android | TuneIn | RSS | MoreCan depression be a gift? Is there something to be gained from those dark and hard places in life? If you or someone you love live with this battle, you’ve probably also felt the shame that seems to accompany the intense pain and feelings of hopelessness. The current estimates state that 15% of adults will experience this growing challenge—depression—at some point in their lives. With this in mind, co-hosts Darlene Brock and Julie Graham interview Melissa Maimone, author of The Radiant Midnight: Depression, Grace and the Gifts of a Dark Place. Her transparency is refreshing as she shares her struggle, even admitting that for her, depression has

What Are the Unexpected Gifts of Depression? With Melissa Maimone – 095 Read More »

The Seesaw Aftermath of Losing My Husband to Suicide

By Clare Marlow / Faith

I have never been able to reconcile my seesawing beliefs about suicide. About the suicide of my first husband, Gary. He was handsome, fit, smart, playful, an adventurer. I loved him deeply and he deeply loved me. He cared about my heart and my dreams. He was a fun and tender and wise father to his children. A man who never took a sick day off work, jogged three miles a day, loved God, was a gifted storyteller, and made long-lasting friends every single place he went. A man whose death packed a church that seats 600 even though we were relatively new to our home across the country from where we grew up and lived for decades. A man who kept

The Seesaw Aftermath of Losing My Husband to Suicide Read More »

Trauma, Grief, and Healing After Suicide

By Susan Tucker / Life & Culture

This month my son’s best friend would have turned eighteen. He would have been enjoying his senior year and applying to colleges. He might have had his first job and first girlfriend. Instead, we are honoring his birthday while our hearts continue to mourn his loss. Two-and-a-half years have passed since his suicide, yet the grief is still fresh. After Carter’s death, I found myself hovering over my sons, experiencing periods of anxiety, and weeping often. Because of a history of depression, I didn’t hesitate to reach out to a local counselor for help. This wasn’t my first experience working with a counselor. I value the wisdom and discernment of skilled therapists, and I know that their expertise can be extremely helpful

Trauma, Grief, and Healing After Suicide Read More »

When Someone You Love Is Contemplating Suicide

By Darlene Brock / Life & Culture

*The reality of suicide has touched the lives of several of the writers at The Grit & Grace Project so we are taking the opportunity to share our hearts. As the daughter of someone who took their own life, there are things I have learned since that fateful day. I am in no way an expert, but in searching for answers I have gleaned a few things from those who are. If life had a do-over I would have done these things prior to my father’s death, and I want to share them with you: 1. Do not dismiss their level of depression. It does not matter how full of life they may have been in the past. If they are deeply struggling, the possibility

When Someone You Love Is Contemplating Suicide Read More »

Teen Suicide

By Teresa Christian / Faith

Lately I’ve been thinking about a difficult subject…teen suicide. There are simply too many of them. Even one is too many. Too many kids who believe they have no hope, life is worthless, they are worthless. None of that is true. But how do we as adults convince them of that? I think part of the answer might lie in teaching teenagers to grieve and giving proper respect to the tough moments in their lives. I know we have the perspective of many more years of life, but for them, this moment is all they have. The problem is they dwell on these moments until they are consumed, and then they convince themselves nothing else matters. Just the thing… THE. ONE. THING.

Teen Suicide Read More »

Surviving the Shadowlands of Teen Suicide

By Susan Tucker / Life & Culture

When my son was fourteen years old, he suddenly lost his best friend. The week began with an ordinary Monday. My son spent the morning chatting with his friend before school began, they passed each other in the hallways numerous times throughout the day, they ate lunch side by side, and they said goodbye at 3:15, as they did every day for five years. That night his friend took his own life. On Tuesday morning, with the news of his friend’s death, my son’s heart broke and his world changed. Prior to this tragedy, my son lived in the beautiful bubble of a happy childhood. Sure, he’d faced fear, struggle, and disappointment, but in light of the nuclear blast of that Tuesday

Surviving the Shadowlands of Teen Suicide Read More »