I’m going to get a bit personal and share a little about my own grieving process that still to this day, hurts my heart.

Back in 2012, my husband and I were about to celebrate our wedding anniversary. The day before our anniversary we packed up the car and headed toward our favorite place to visit, Cannon Beach.

When we were about 1/2 way there, my phone rang and it was from California.

I had a feeling something was wrong because the person on the other end of the line never called, just texted once in a while.

She said “I have something awful to tell you”!

I held my breath.

She said, “Your Dad was killed by a hit and run driver while riding his bike early this morning”.

My heart sunk.

In Shock and Paralyzed

I couldn’t talk. I felt sick to my stomach and the sadness was overwhelming!

My head went down into my lap and my husband knew something was very wrong.  All I could say is “we have to pull over now!“.

As soon as we pulled over, I told my husband. Being overcome with emotion, he immediately exited the car, and was overcome with emotion.

We were in shock and paralyzed and didn’t know whether to turn around and go home or continue to our destination. We decided that Dad would want us to continue on, so we did.

Obviously our anniversary sucked and so did the following days, weeks and months.Our hearts were broken.

How does one go on after hearing this kind of news?

We had no clue.

I can’t even tell you how much I cried during that time!  It felt like a bad dream that I’d eventually wake up from and everything would be ok.

Tips on How To Grieve

During the grieving process, it was tough to concentrate. I couldn’t read books, create videos, or write blog posts. Even the smallest task was overwhelming.

A previous grieving experience taught me one important lesson, which was to maintain my strength!

Everyone has their own way of grieving, but I’ll explain what I did!

I felt the emotions and cried as much as I needed to, and it was a lot!  Sometimes nonstop!

I also continued the automatic daily routines, took vitamins, ate healthy food, exercised, and most importantly stayed hydrated, which kept my energy up.

Attempting to be mindful and living in the moment, I played games such as Words with Friends and Sudoku.

Playing these games required only short concentration periods which helped because they took my mind off of the sadness!

Practicing healthy living habits was important to both of us, because it provided strength to continue through a very difficult time.

A Little About My Dad

I was my Dad’s only child (we were a lot alike). He was my mentor, advisor, best friend, and hero.

He was positive, intelligent, witty and always made everyone laugh!

When I was young, he taught me how to manage money, throw a football, shoot pool, play ping pong, and toss a Frisbee.

He used to take me to Zuma beach on his motorcycle, even through windy Topanga Canyon!

He was very active and completed several marathons, 1/2 marathons, biathlons, 5Ks, 10ks, and the Bay to Breakers in San Francisco 20 times.

He was a terrific photographer and taught me how to shoot creatively and edit videos.

He was always my “Go To” guy and always told me how proud he was of me.

I miss him so much!

Life Lessons From Dad

After months of grieving, I managed to sit down at the computer and crank out 19 pages of lessons Dad taught me throughout my life.

At first it wasn’t easy…

It took several hours and was the first time I’d finally been able to concentrate in a long time.

I ended up turning those pages into a short book which you can read below.

To this day, we still have no clue as to who killed my Dad because they seemed to vanish!

This coward needs to be caught and put away so justice can be served!

If you have any information on this, please contact LAPD!

Have you experienced grief?  Please leave a comment!

TOPIC: How To Stay Healthy While Grieving!

If you are concerned about your own self-care, click the button below!

SCHEDULE A DISCOVERY CALL