A journey of transformation through loss, healing, and hope

I grew up on a family farm with four siblings, surrounded by nature and raised in a Christian home that gave me a deep foundation of faith and family values. My childhood was carefree—filled with the simple joys of farm life and close-knit community.

But adulthood brought challenges I never anticipated. Early marriage and motherhood after high school, a chronically ill child requiring intensive care, divorce, multiple house fires, and a personal cancer diagnosis tested my resilience in ways I couldn't have imagined.

Yet nothing could have prepared me for November 2007, when my fast-track life came to a screeching halt. My son Shaun died in an accidental shooting, and I was plunged into a darkness I never knew existed. As a mother of four and successful business owner, I found myself drowning in PTSD, profound grief, and suicidal despair.

I struggled for years with profound depression and despair. Despite my professional accomplishments, the business I'd co-founded, the awards I'd received—none of it mattered. I had lost my sense of self entirely and had to rebuild everything from the ground up.

Through counseling, EMDR therapy, spiritual practices, prayer, and the unwavering support of loved ones and the community that strongly supported me, I slowly emerged from the darkness—stronger, wiser, and more grateful than I thought possible. My journey through devastating loss became my calling, and I wrote "Grief Warrior" to offer hope and companionship to others walking through their own valleys of loss.