Hi! I’m Elizabeth and thank you for visiting. I write about my kids, my home, my grief, and creating a Purposeful Home. Welcome to Finding My Purpose!
All in Grief
Benjamin Robert Gerlach, June 30, 2012 – May 2, 2016
This day five years ago began as any other day that Benjamin was in the hospital. Except this time, he was a bit more serious, was intubated and had been transferred from our suburban hospital to Lurie Children’s in downtown Chicago. It would end in a much different way than I ever expected.
No mother should ever have to bury her child. But it happens all the time. And recently it was a family we know, making my heart heavier and taking me back just a bit to the familiar feelings of four years ago.
I’ve been there. We lost my three-year-old son in 2016.
Ever feel like you needed saving? This is how ‘finding furniture’ saved me. When my son Benjamin died in 2016, I needed a hobby. I needed something to work on, something to do – even though I still had two of my almost-4-year-old triplets. I needed something (anything) to help combat this new feeling of despair, if just for a little while. I started rehabbing old furniture.
Have your young children lost someone close to them and you weren’t sure how to talk about it? Books can help introduce tough topics, and here are a few that really helped my family as we adjusted to life without my son.
I received a call from the PICU around 10:30pm saying that Benjamin had an ‘episode’ and I should come to the hospital as soon as I could. My husband was actually already on his way. I had been in Ben’s room all day, and Rob and I were doing a shift change. He would stay overnight.
It was a Monday.
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