Goodbye Shrinks! A Farewell to Therapy

As soon as we realized that Ian wasn't going to survive, we went into "protection mode"

How do you not screw up a seven year old whose brother has died?

We immediately met with the Child Life specialists to discuss how to break the news to her.

It is one of the saddest memories, telling her... She cried aloud "Who will I play with?"




The first thing we did we secure a child grief therapist. We were so thankful for the referral we received from our friend Liz. She wrangled an appointment and we got right in.

We met Mr. Matt the week Ian died. We arranged for him to see Isabel every other week.

We also supplemented this with New Hope for Kids, a non-profit organization that aids families experiencing grief. We did group therapy on the opposite weeks.

We have been doing this for a year.

This week we said Goodbye.

What a huge milestone! To realize that it has been a year. We have been responsible and consistent. We have addressed our future guilt..... The guilt that I imagine will be piled on me when faced with an enraged teenage girl. I can only imagine a 14/15/16-year-old Isabel, screaming at me, across the kitchen. "YOU screwed up everything when Ian died!!!"

I feel that I have assuaged that guilt and taken measures to feel that
  I DID THE BEST I CAN!

So Goodbye Mr Matt!

Goodbye "most comfortable lobby couch in the world"

Goodbye New Hope



Hello New YEAR!