On August 17, 2000, when I was 26 years old, my husband fell asleep driving and died in a car accident. This was also the day I discovered I was pregnant with our second child. Our first was 22 months old. About three months after the funeral, my closely knit support system of family and friends started picking up the pieces of their own lives. They had put their’s on the shelf to help me but they all had lives of their own, and grief that they had to process as well. I couldn’t expect them to help me with mine when they had their own to work on. And so I started looking for some help outside my family and friends. Fortunately I found someone – a ‘soul coach’ – that encouraged me and created a place that supplied the safety I needed to discover my own strength and my own inner-peace. Something I feared I’d never have again. I come to you from a place of understanding. I know the pain of losing a husband and partner. I can sit and talk with you about not knowing if you want to give up the pain yet, because “won’t that mean I didn’t really love him – if I can somehow manage to ‘move on’?” I can talk with you about being suddenly single and having no one to share your life with, and whether the zest will come back – for anything. I used to cry in the car where no one could see me, but I’d like to give you a safer place to do that. Journaling became a way of meditating and connecting to whoever was listening and carrying me through my pain. I didn’t know any gods to pray to, I didn’t have the support structure of a church or congregation where I belonged. It was just me and my writing. This was how I lived every day without my husband. I’d like to show you how to use this lifeline, too. I hope that I can be of service to you during this time and that we can work together on integrating your grief into something you can manage on a daily basis. I found that I was ready to talk about three or four months after the death of my husband. But that may be different for you. Everyone grieves differently and on a different time table. Please feel free to call me or email me and talk over whether I could be of assistance to you. Sincerely, Valerie Willman Certified Bereavement Facilitator Member: American Academy of Bereavement LMT #12969 Level Two Reiki Practitioner Back to Valerie's Bio Back to Practitioners