One of the hardest parts about losing a son or daughter is that we also lose parts of ourselves. I thought that the mountains would help heal me when Sam died and instead, I only occasionally have had the energy to drive up there and step on a trail.

Hiking and running went from something I craved to something I didn't have to energy to even think about. I began to feel like I would never enjoy the mountains again, a place I had considered a home away from home for years.

Just recently, however, I noticed that instead of fighting myself to keep going, as I had for the past 18 months, I was enjoying myself again. I didn't see it coming but suddenly I felt the joy of being up there again.

In today's episode, I talk about the 5 choices that I have made while grieving for Sam that have helped me reconnect with this part of myself and also why I think it is so important that each of us work through our loss in a way that is authentic to us.

Grief doesn't work on a time line or in a linear fashion but we each have an internal energy and knowing of what we need during this time. I want to encourage each of us to use this knowledge courageously because I have found that it's helping me reclaim parts of myself that I thought were gone forever.

I am not a counselor or a doctor or here to give advice. I am a grieving mom, here to share my experience and what is helping me through this grief. Thank you for stopping by.