The Empty Bedroom: The Story of One Women's Loss and Spiritual Renewal

By Grace Keshishyan, Ishkhan Jinbashian and Raffi Antounian

The devastation of losing a child never quite goes away.No matter how many years separate us from the tragedy, the heartache always looms, often returning in waves, to crush and paralyze us once more. Yet at some point in the sustained nightmare of grappling with the sense of pointlessness that accompanies inconsolable g

• Language: English
• Publisher: Grace Keshishyan
• Release date: Dec 3, 2015
• ISBN: 9780996772716

Book preview

THE EMPTY BEDROOM

The story of one woman’s loss and spiritual renewal

GRACE KESHISHYAN

Copyright © 2015 by Grace Keshishyan.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.

First Edition: 2015

Publisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication data:

Keshishyan, Grace.

The empty bedroom / Grace Keshishyan. — 1st ed.

56 p. ; 21 cm.

1. Death—Psychological aspects.

2. Bereavement—Psychological aspects.

3. Spiritual healing.

4. Emotional health. 4. Afterlife.

ISBN-978-0-9967727-1-6 (ebook)

www.theemptybedroom.com

Design by Ishkhan Jinbashian and Raffi Antounian

First Edition

Printed in the United States of America

To my son,

who touched many hearts.

I will forever love you.

The real trouble with this world of ours is that it is not an unreasonable world, nor even that it is a reasonable one. The commonest kind of trouble is that it is nearly reasonable, but not quite. Life is not an illogicality; yet it is a trap for logicians. It looks just a little more mathematical and regular than it is; its exactitude is obvious, but its inexactitude is hidden; its wildness lies in wait.

Gilbert K. Chesterton

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

The intuition

Chapter one: Just be

Chapter two: The day of the accident

Chapter three: The funeral

Chapter four: How my son died

Chapter five: Experiences

Chapter six: Healing and the future

The purpose

Thoughts from my heart

Poems:

Ephemeral

Now I dance

Six months

Further reading

Acknowledgments

The emotional support, unconditional love, friendship, and encouragement I have received from the people in my circle of life have given me the strength to write this book. Thank you all.

I am grateful to Dr. Hanna, whose valuable advice kept me going.

I am grateful to my good friend and colleague Luis Cruz, who listened to me day in and day out, whenever I needed to talk. Your wise words helped me tremendously, Luis.

There is also quite a long list of friends and peers, including Ron Rivera, Miguel Acuna, Laila Honda, George Prokopenko, and Eddie Husain, each of whom helped me without even realizing it. Thank you all for your support at work, which I needed the most to help transform my personal life.

My gratitude goes to my dear friends Seta, Daniel, and Diana, as well as my cousins, who were there in times of sadness and happiness alike. The list is very long and you know who you are.

I am fortunate to have my family. My mom is my role model, the first to cheer me up and the first to cry with me. My sisters Amy and Stephanie; my brother-in-law Robert; my nephews Garik, Khosrov, and Anthony; and my niece Brigitte, you have always been there for me, cheered me up, and supported in any way you could. Thanks a million.

My lovely daughter Marine, I am blessed and grateful to have you in my life. I cannot begin to imagine how I would have survived without you. I am happy to see your family around you. I am grateful to my grandson Henry — your big smile and smart, twinkling eyes bring contentment to my life.

Many thanks to Tom Julian for encouraging me, helping me write this book, and suggesting ideas for the title. I’d like to thank Lilit Grigoryan for technical editing; Ishkhan Jinbashian for the general editing and layout of the book; and Paul Hammond for his encouragement and suggestion of ideas with regard to