Living Through Grief: Losing My Daughter, Addy

No words can truly prepare you for the experience of losing a child.

As a mother, your life revolves around them—their laughter, their voice, the way they enter a room and fill it with life.

Then one day, everything changes.

When I lost Addy, I didn’t just lose my daughter. I lost a part of myself, a piece of my identity, and the future I had envisioned.

Grief isn’t something you “get over” it’s something you learn to live with.

Some days, it feels heavy, like getting out of bed requires all your strength.

Other days, it’s quieter but still present—in small moments, memories, and silence.

The hardest part? The world keeps moving.

People go to work, they laugh, they move on.

And you’re left wondering how that’s possible when your world has stopped.

What Grief Really Feels Like

Grief isn’t just sadness.

It’s exhaustion, numbness, anger, and confusion.

It’s missing someone in unexpected moments, yearning for one more conversation, one more hug, one more “I love you.”

It’s learning to carry love that has nowhere to go.

What Has Helped Me Through It

There’s no “right” way to grieve. But some things can help you continue, even when it feels impossible.

💛 1. Allow yourself to feel everything

Don’t rush your healing. Don’t push your feelings away. Grief needs to be felt, not hidden.

💛 2. Talk about them

Say their name. Share their stories. Keep their memory alive in conversations.

Addy still matters. She always will.

💛 3. Find purpose in the pain

This is how With Love Addy began.

Turning pain into purpose doesn’t erase grief, but it gives it direction.

Helping others, spreading kindness, raising awareness for mental health.

It helps keep her light alive.

💛 4. Give yourself grace

Some days you’ll feel okay. Some days you won’t.

Both are valid.

Healing is not linear, and there is no timeline for grief.

💛 5. Lean on those who understand

Not everyone will understand, and that’s okay.

But some people will sit with you in the pain, without trying to fix it—just being there.

Those people matter.

💛 6. Hold onto the love

Grief exists because love exists.

The depth of your pain reflects the depth of your love.

And that love doesn’t disappear. It changes, it continues, it stays with you.

If You’re Walking Through Grief Right Now

I see you.

I know how heavy it feels. I know how lonely it can be.

But you are not alone.

Even on days when it feels overwhelming… you are still here.

And that matters.

Why We Keep Going

With Love Addy was created so that something positive could emerge from something so painful.

So that:

• Someone feels seen

• Someone feels less alone

• Someone hears the words they needed

Because sometimes… one message, one act of kindness, one reminder

can make all the difference.

Grief doesn’t mean you’re broken. It means you loved deeply.

And that love… is something no one can ever take away.

With love, With Love Addy 💛