Message for the Week: Getting Through the First Year of Grieving

By Charlene Mabins

Initially, I wanted to reach out for help for myself when I found myself reaching out to help other people. After my son Christopher’s death I faced obstacles and challenges beyond belief.  I would think about my son and how he must have felt when he had troubling thoughts on his mind, and couldn’t explain what he was going through. On the day that he died I thought to myself, “What didn’t I say that could have made a difference?” That was my starting point and I made a promise to myself that I would try to be open and truthful. For almost a year, I would send text messages via my cell phone, once a week to family members and friends with a little something to keep them going and to let them know that life isn’t so bad. Ironically as I pursued this mission of helping others through God’s word, I felt enormous healing myself. I received a lot of great reviews and compliments in return.  But more importantly, reaching out to others in my worst time of trouble helped me to heal and understand that I did not grieve alone.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: May 7, 2009
• ISBN: 9781467870900

Charlene Mabins

Charlene Mabins is a former Barber stylist and after having dead-end jobs for years, decided to go back to school in her late 30’s, as a single parent. She thought she had gone through everything good and bad in her life until September 16, 2007, when her son Christopher committed suicide at the age of 18, and left a note saying “I love you mom and wish you to happiness.”  This was the beginning of her life without her son. The loss of a child is not easy and going through the stages of grief was a road she was not expecting to travel. She is a currently a student in the social work program at Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago. Charlene decided to write about her grieving process to tell how she was able to deal with her grieving and the difficulties of the grieving process that she experienced.  She is hoping she can help someone else by sharing her story.

Book preview

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