The Loss of Two Sons - A Father’s Broken Heart!
As I am on my journey of putting my book project American Daddy together, I get to experience moments that bring me great joy but also great pain and sadness as I interact with other men & women.
I was meeting with a printer here in Los Angeles as I was trying to find the right partner to put my presentation piece together. I really loved the work that I have seen from this particular printer so I reached out to them and set up a meeting. Little did I know the impact that my time with the owner would provide.
As we sat in his office he began to show me his numerous samples of exception work that he has produced. Then it was my turn to share with him about my project, American Daddy, A Father’s Heart Revealed.
I began to share with him how I wanted to be a voice in culture that would bring to light the love that fathers have for their children. I wanted the world to know that there are men who are committed and do an amazing job at fathering. I wanted their faces to be seen and thier stories to be told.
As I shared with him my vision tears began to roll down this mans face. He shared with me how he had just lost his 16-year old son in a motorcycle accident. He went on to say that he had lost another son a few years before. The loss of 2 sons! How does one cope with this tragic loss and the immensity of the emotional damage that these events can create?
My heart was broken for him and I grieved his losses with him in his office. I have a place in my heart that can relate to his losses–because I have lost a brother and a sister at a young age. The loss of my brother and my sister has brought me great sadness. Though the events happened many years ago I am still left with the sense of loss and wonder of what our relationships would of been like. I am left with the wonder of what type of impact they would have made in my life and the life of others and our world. Though I have moved forward, like this man has, the loss will always remain a part of our hearts and there will always be a place of sadness.
I know and have seen the devistating damage that this type of loss causes to a parent. I have seen how these losses have caused both my mother and my father to shrink back for a time. The heartbreak that still plagues them to this day.
This is a devistation that many experience and endure. Maybe some of you can share what you have done to create hope or steps that you have taken to come out of the mourning process with a sense of vision and purpose to move forward.
For those of you who have lost loved ones, my heart greives with you! I look forward to your words of encouragement for all of us.
