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Option B | Navigating Grief & Hardship

@optionb

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We’re here to help you navigate loss & adversity and support your loved ones through life’s hardest moments via:
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Recently, I’ve spoken with so many people who long to find love again but worry about how their adult children will feel. Those conversations have stayed with me – and inspired me to write an open letter and talk about the importance of finding love again with @andersoncooper on his incredible podcast, @allthereis.

I hope these words reach anyone who needs them and help families begin a difficult, honest conversation about love after loss. We can honor the people we’ve lost while supporting the people still beside us.

You can read the full letter and listen to the podcast at the links in my bio.

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Do it Afraid
Yesterday we ended our @leaninorg Circle meeting with a quote from @sherylsandberg, “What would you do if you weren’t afraid.” A reminder that fear often limits our capabilities. Today, I applaud all the individuals embracing new challenges and I encourage all to pursue your dreams even when you feel that fear of the unknown. Do it afraid.
Thanks Dr. Leria Joy McKenzie for leading yesterday’s session. You awaken our dreams to dream the impossible. It was a reminder journey on with resilience, history, and faith. @the_female_journey @bace.uk @essence @kudzaiishencozana @mamma_beat @samanthasaunders8083 @optionb @femalequotient @trini_melc @annleigh00 @annleigh00 @niapriscilla @matthewrickman_ @chefpolo08 @muzikandmanifestationzz

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@sherylsandberg talks with @andersoncooper about the connection she found between grief and joy after the death of her husband, Dave Goldberg, in 2015, and why she believes choosing to “let yourself feel some joy” can be a way of honoring a loved one. Watch the full conversation at cnn.com/allthereis #grief #allthereis

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@sherylsandberg married her husband Tom Bernthal seven years after her husband Dave Goldberg died in 2015. She talks with @andersoncooper about an open letter she’s written to adult children who have lost a parent, encouraging them to “give permission” to their surviving parent to find love again. Watch the full conversation at cnn.com/allthereis #grief #allthereis

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Today is 59 years from the day my beloved late husband Dave Goldberg was born.

Dave, the world is a better place for your presence and it is a worse place for your absence.

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You don’t have to travel there alone. Therapy can help 💙

#griefjourney #loss #therapy #mentalhealth #grief

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Grief doesn’t follow a schedule. Some days you feel strong, and other days a memory, a song, a photograph, or a quiet moment can bring everything rushing back.

There is no “right” way to grieve and no deadline for healing. We simply learn, little by little, how to carry the love and the loss together.

If you’re going through a season of grief, change, or starting over, know that you don’t have to have everything figured out today. Take it one day at a time. ❤️

Follow @yournextchapterwithana for encouragement, reflection, and reminders that even after loss, there can still be beautiful chapters ahead.

#GriefJourney #StartingOver #LifeAfterLoss #yournextchapter

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Just in time for World Suicide Prevention Day, my latest piece for The Familius Habit Hub just dropped: How to Talk to Kids About Suicide Loss (When You’re Still Healing Too).

And this one is deeply personal for me, because I was that child.

Only when my father died by suicide, I wasn’t told the truth until 35 years later. So I often say I lost my father twice: once when he died and again when I learned how he died.

And that experience shaped how I believe we need to talk to kids about suicide loss—with honesty, age-appropriate language, and space for all the questions that come after.

Because our kids don’t need us to have all the answers. They just need to know they never have to carry this kind of grief alone.

Read the full piece here:
https://familius.com/how-to-talk-to-kids-about-suicide-loss-when-youre-still-healing-too/

And to discover more strategies for talking about and healing from suicide loss, click the LINK IN THE BIO to order my new book Surviving: Finding Hope After Suicide Loss.

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Today, I didn’t want to crawl out of the tunnel but it wasn’t an option.

If you are looking for a book on grief/loss, this one hits home in the best of ways. Even on your dad’s birthday when he’s been gone for almost three years.

Because as hard as this day is, it’s even harder to talk about.

Making space for yourself and for those around you to want to be in their tunnels is a gift. We don’t need good vibes, to be rushed or some cliche quote.

We will always be nudged when we are called back home.

(Respectfully, comments about how much he misses me or what a gift I was to him are not productive under the weighted circumstances that underlined our troubled relationship. Grief isn’t always a “you’re upset because the love you have to give was so immense and cut short”. Sometimes grief is truly the feelings you never got to express, the repair that you desperately hoped for that never occurred or the incredible desire to still be seen and heard that was never there. It is no bigger or stronger or more than or less than anyone else’s. My grief is mine and I’m grateful you are willing to bear witness to it as I still try to figure out a path of healing… thank you friends ❤️)

#parentloss
#griefjourney💔
#whatisgrief
#optionb
#healinginprogress

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Today is National Grief Awareness Day...

But instead of simply raising awareness about grief, maybe we need to get better at understanding it.

Because grief doesn’t follow rules. It has no expiration date. And it rarely looks the same from one person to the next.

As a 3x survivor of suicide loss and a survivor of childhood loss, I’ve been accompanied by grief since I was nine years old. Swipe through the carousel to learn the 6 things I wish everyone understood about grief—whether you’re carrying a loss yourself or trying to show up for someone who is.

And when grief feels especially heavy, visit the Grief & Loss Resources page on The HelpHUB™ for tools and resources to help you navigate those hard moments.

🔗Click the LINK IN THE BIO to go there now.

Because maybe the best way to honor National Grief Awareness Day isn’t by telling people how to grieve, but by making more room for them to grieve in whatever way they need to.

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Twenty-two years ago, Dave and I stood at the Cape of Good Hope on our honeymoon. The photo we took there became my favorite; the name on the sign seemed to hold the promise of our future together. After I lost Dave, I looked at this photo more than any other - sometimes it made me smile and sometimes it broke my heart all over again.

This month I went back. Same rocks, same waves, but with my family — and with @tom_bernthal beside me. I sat there at first on my own, and I talked to Dave the way I still do sometimes. And then Tom sat down next to me, wiped my tears, and held my hand - and I let both things be true at once: grief for the love I lost, and gratitude for the love I have found.

One of the truest things I’ve learned is that you can still love someone who is gone deeply and truly. And at the same time, you can make room for someone new to stand beside you. Grief and love aren’t opposites competing for space. They can sit on the same rocks, looking at the same waves, at the same time.

I am endlessly grateful to Dave — for the life we shared, the beautiful children he gave me, the hope that we had time to experience. And I am endlessly grateful to Tom — for being generous enough to let Dave continue to be part of our story instead of asking me to leave him behind. Our love doesn’t erase the old; it just proves that there’s more room in a heart than we think.

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In My Feelings Friday 💚

Sometimes we grieve what we wanted, what we prayed for, and what we thought was meant for us.

Then time passes… and we realize the closed door may have been protection, redirection, or both.

🎙️ Shoutout to @seasoned_dialogue for today’s powerful words.

🌸 Ready to begin your 90-day journey? Tap the link in our bio to get your copy today.

Have you ever looked back and realized a “no” was actually protection or redirection? Comment below.” 💚

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