Who has had a child that has died or a parent that died when you were young?

it must be SO hard for someone in that position of losing of their child or losing their parent when they were young. it would be so devastating for that to happen to me. i just want to know, how does it feel and what is going through your mind when you first find out or when it first happens. dont answer if you are going to get too sad or emotional i dont want to make someone out there cry or anything.. i cant imagine the feeling of such a devastating loss.Who has had a child that has died or a parent that died when you were young?
My father died a few months into my freshman year of high school. I was 14 years old and he was only 43 years old. He lost his battle with lung cancer.


I am so thankful that it snowed that day!! I was in school and due to the snow, we had an early dismissal. I came home on the bus and was able to have those last few hours with my dad. (I didn't know it at the time that he was going to die that day). I remember talking to my dad as he lie there in bed and suddenly did not get a response from him. My first thought was that he just fell asleep as cancer does take a lot of energy out of you. I tried waking him and nothing....ran to get my mother who wasn't sure what to do. I picked up the phone and called the emergency number (before the days of 911) for our town. The medics arrived and he was pronounced dead shortly after. Next thing I knew my mom was meeting with all these people and there was all this chaos in the house. We were all escorted over to our neighbor's house by a police officer. My mom I remember being a wreck; as for me it just seemed like it didn't happen as it hadn't sunk in for me yet.





During the following months, the way I handled it was to withdraw from everyone. I had few friends as it was but now I just kept more and more to myself. I basically buried myself in my schoolwork and that was my own outlet. I got good grades that year, but was miserable.





It took me all through high school and beyond to overcome that loss. For all through my freshman and sophomore years of HS, I remember sitting at a lunch table alone, eating my lunch and then just counting the minutes until the bell rang for the following period. In my junior year, I made friends with a few seniors and they let me sit with them. After that, my senior year of HS, I started coming out of my shell a bit more. Maybe it was because I started to think that some of these people that I grew up with all these years I may never see again. However, I was still very isolated and did not partake in really any social activities and did not attend the prom either. It took me until graduation day I remember to give myself a swift kick to get back on track. During our overnight graduation party, I remember people coming up to me who I never expected to come up to me and tell me that they thought I was a good person and wish they had the opportunity to get to know me a bit more.





So yes, it is a long hard road, but can it be overcome? Absolutely!! Now at the age of 35 (well, I will be in two weeks anyway) I realize that even though I tremendously still miss my father and wish he was around to see me grow up, I know that what I went through during my high school years has made me stronger as an adult and has driven me on my career path that I am currently on.Who has had a child that has died or a parent that died when you were young?
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