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Lk Franc

@lk.franc

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Learning to live after suicide loss. 🤍
Rebuilding life with purpose, beauty & hope.
🇬🇧 Physiotherapist | 🇬🇩 Grenada
Choosing joy without forgetting.

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A little behind-the-scenes peek at a 360 VideoboothUK event! 🎥✨

Come along as we unload, set up, test, tweak… and finally get to the good bit — seeing it all come together! 🙌🏽

Old Windsor, you were great! 🥂

Big thanks to @gouldjohng111 for being my trusty setup sidekick! 😂🙏🏽

The kit is packed away… but the memories are just getting started. 💃🏽🕺🏽🎥

#party #event #goodtimes #memories taken in Old Windsor by @lk.franc

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a month ago

Grateful to be asked to contribute to the conversation. taken in Zoom Online by @lk.franc

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a month ago

Saying goodbye to August is a welcome relief. To say it was traumatic is an understatement.

A friend suggested that celebrating my partner’s big birthday the day after J’s passing could, in some strange way, be a blessing — forcing you out of the deep despair and grief, even if just for a moment.

I’ve had no brain space to know whether that’s true. What I do know is that the lead-up to August, and August itself, have been some of the hardest weeks of the year for me, for years.

So, as traumatic as it felt trying to arrange a surprise birthday celebration while navigating all of that, I have to say… the after-effects were glorious.

Being surrounded by good, genuine souls — some known to me, many complete strangers — and experiencing such simple kindness felt incredibly restorative 🤍

Maybe I need to plan more little staycations around those difficult milestones, with rest, relaxation and something to look forward to factored in.

No matter how much I try to pre-empt and manage my feelings, it rarely goes to plan. So, for now, I’m going to focus on where I am today and keep that little plan in my back pocket.

And while I’m more than ready to say goodbye to August, I’m conscious that September brings Suicide Awareness Month — another month that can so easily pull me into a continuous cycle of sadness, anger and heaviness.

This September, I’m hoping to find a different balance. To acknowledge what matters, speak up when I need to, but not lose myself in it.

For now, I’m choosing to focus on where I am today 🤍

Thank you New Forest for the rest and tranquility, and @pixieandpearls and @missjacks_p 🥂

#everyday #griefjourney #joy taken in New Forest, Hampshire by @lk.franc

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a month ago

I couldn’t bring myself to post until after the worst day of my life. I’ve been dreading August since we hit it.

Nothing will ever ease the pain of losing my beautiful soul. Nothing will ever convince me that his pain couldn’t have been prevented. Nothing will ever convince me that, if he had chosen a different career, he would still be here today 🥲

I keep striving to keep your memory alive, and I pray that, in doing so, some may experience less pain than you felt.

Today, I cleared your resting place and brought you sun flowers. I still can’t bring myself to put your headstone down because I’m not ready for that finality. And, if I’m honest, I feel guilty about that too. 💔

But I’ve been reminded that there is no right way to grieve a child. There is only the way we find to keep going.

Six years without you, Jaden.
Six years of loving you, missing you, fighting for you and trying to make sure your life continues to make a difference.

A mother’s love remains forever 🤍🕊️💫

Ps. Thank you to the kind person who left flowers 🌹 by @lk.franc

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2 months ago

Ten years ago, I was dancing, performing, exercising and throwing myself into life with a passion that felt so natural. These photos were taken just three and four years before I lost Jaden — and then lost myself too.

Six years on, I’m still desperately trying to find my way back to movement. I continue to struggle with consistency, and I know I can be far too hard on myself about it. The dedicated dancer I once was may be long gone, but I keep wondering if that passion has really disappeared completely.

Yesterday, after spending the whole day exhausted on the sofa, I somehow managed to show up at the gym.

I hate not feeling in control of me. 🤍

Wednesday will mark six years since losing Jaden — and six years of learning how to live with the parts of myself I no longer recognise.

I know this is about discovering who I am now, and allowing her to move, dance, laugh and live again, in her own time.

But it’s bloody hard.

So maybe, for now, I need to stop comparing her to the woman in these photographs and start forgiving her for everything she has survived.

One day at a time. ✨

#griefjourney #onedayatatime #preciousmoments by @lk.franc

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2 months ago

Day 2. Five sessions completed and feeling AMAZING afterwards. 💪🏽✨

Then the negativity crept in…

“You’ve been here before, Linda. What’s going to be different this time?”

For a moment, I felt that familiar disappointment. I decided quitting was probably inevitable — it was just a matter of when.

But I caught myself.

Linda, you can break the cycle. Stop thinking about whether you’ll quit. Just plan the next session.

So that’s what I’m doing. One session at a time. No big promises. No perfection. Just choosing to show up again.

And a little disclaimer… officially, I attended FIVE sessions in two days 😂 but I left halfway through the last one because I was bloody exhausted.

I’m counting it. I showed up. I listened to my body. And I’ll be back. ❤️

#day2 #motivation #consistency #gym #showup by @lk.franc

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2 months ago

It’s been a hot while since I’ve properly got back into the gym… and becoming a major procrastinator when it comes to exercise is totally alien to me 😔

I’ve been trying to work out why it’s felt so hard to get back on track. I know I need it — for my physical health, my mental wellbeing and just to feel more like myself again — but lately I’ve been exhausted, putting it off, then beating myself up for it.

After taking some time yesterday to acknowledge what I’ve been experiencing, I decided I need to stop overthinking it and just start doing.

So today I stuck to a plan. 💪🏽
Strength training, followed by aerobics & tums tonight.

Rather than my usual max everything out and exhaust myself approach, I’m spreading things out so I can keep moving without wiping myself out on work days.

And I’m finally making a little headway with the new business venture too, which feels exciting ✨

So… is this a reset, or simply a continuation of the commitment I made two years ago? 🤷🏽‍♀️

Either way, I’m back at it ❤️

#reset #exercise #physicalhealth #mentalhealth by @lk.franc

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2 months ago

To say the last few months have been challenging is an understatement.

I still can’t quite believe how deeply J’s birthday impacted me, even six years on. The tears came from nowhere — standing in supermarket queues, sitting in the car — and at times I felt completely out of control of my emotions. I hated feeling that way.

I’ve had some time to reflect, and I think the stress I’d been carrying during my recent trip 😏 probably played a bigger part than I realised.

I’m so thankful for my beautiful, kind friends who checked in on me. Your support meant more than you probably know, especially at a time when I didn’t even realise how much I needed it 🤍

So, I’m proud of myself for saying yes to an invitation with absolutely no agenda — just walking, talking, soaking up the beautiful sunshine and taking in some of London’s sights.

Nothing to achieve. Nowhere I needed to be.

Just being present, enjoying the moment and reminding myself that joy is still here.

Hoping I find my way back to a little more of it soon 🫶🏽

#london #joy #grief taken in Southbank London by @lk.franc

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2 months ago

Another year of missing you.
Another year grieving differently to the last five years.

Another year of missing your smile.
Of wondering what you’d look like today.
Of not seeing you grow into the handsome man I always imagined you’d be.

Another year of not hearing your voice.
Not hearing your infectious laugh.
Nor hear you call Muuum.

Another year replaying old memories—
like you whizzing around Paris on an electric scooter long before they were a thing.
I still don’t understand how you knew how to book one on your phone and unlock it in 2018.
You always seemed one step ahead of most-and many steps ahead of me.

Life is so cruel because another year also means knowing
I won’t see you today,
tomorrow,
or ever again.

Another year knowing there’ll be no new memories.
No new conversations.
No new wisdom.
No new joy.

So I hold tightly-
perhaps cling is the better word-
to everything we were lucky enough to share.

Those memories are all I have left, and I pray time is kind enough not to let them fade.

I miss your quirky antics.
Our wonderfully confusing conversations.
The way you made me laugh until my heart was full.

Man, you kept me on my toes - from the frantic calls to rush your PE kit to school,
to rescuing you after missed flights from abroad.

I remember the lessons you taught me too.
Despite being your mum, you showed me what it truly meant to see people - to respect those who had less than us and never judge someone because life had dealt them a different hand.

You had a way of making people feel seen, valued and accepted. That’s a rare gift, and the world is poorer without it.

I love you, Jaden.
I always will.

And if I’m honest…

I miss you more than words could ever describe.

So today, on your birthday, I whisper one more prayer.

I hope Professor Brian Cox is wrong.

I hope there is something beyond this life,
so that somehow,
somewhere,
you can see that…

We’re doing our best to honour your life by living as authentically as you lived yours - without apology.

Happy Birthday, my beautiful boy.

Forever loved.
Forever missed.
Forever twenty-one.
Forever my precious son. by @lk.franc

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2 months ago

So yesterday, I bought myself flowers. Not because they fix everything, but because they were one small act of kindness towards myself.

I hadn’t realised I wasn’t coping, and I’m so grateful I unintentionally spent time with a friend yesterday. It would have been so easy to isolate myself.

Looking back, I can see this had been building for a while. It’s reminded me that it’s okay to change your plans depending on how you’re feeling in the moment.

You don’t have to put pressure on yourself to be who you think others expect you to be. As my cousin often reminds me…

“Do you.”

And today, that’s exactly what I’m choosing to do.

#grief #mindfulness by @lk.franc

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2 months ago

As JADEN’s birthday gets closer, I finally had to admit something to myself… I’ve been struggling.

Recognising the signs is really important. But even when you recognise them, acting on them isn’t always straightforward.

Would you recognise the signs if they were happening to you?

#signs by @lk.franc

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2 months ago

Still figuring it out 🫣

#keeplearning #support #progress by @lk.franc

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2 months ago