Articles on Grief, Loss, and Related Issues from Firefly Therapy in Austin, Texas.
It’s Saturday morning. You wake up alone in a bed that used to hold two. The silence feels heavy. The coffee maker beeps in the kitchen, and you realize you only need to make one cup now. This is your new normal; it feels nothing like you thought it would. Divorce doesn’t just end a…
Author’s Note: This story was shared anonymously by a reader. Writing this has been part of my own grieving process. I hope that sharing our family’s story might bring some meaning to a senseless loss and help others who are walking this same path. My mother was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia, which impacts personality, behavior,…
Divorce is more than paperwork. It is a life event that touches your routines, relationships, and sense of self. You may notice many emotions in divorce: grief, anger, relief, regret, and sometimes hope. That emotional journey can feel disorienting and lonely, especially when the legal process moves faster or slower than your heart. You are…
When you lose someone close to you, the world feels like it tilts off balance. Daily routines, your sense of identity, and even simple interactions can feel unfamiliar and heavy. Loss leaves behind silence, unanswered questions, and a space that feels impossible to fill. And yet, through grief, many people eventually find threads of meaning….
Grief is a powerful emotion that can come out of nowhere, catching you off guard. The grieving process varies depending on your relationship with the person you’ve lost and the circumstances of the loss. Whether you’re mourning a parent, grandparent, close friend, or spouse, understanding the five stages of grief can help you navigate this…
Your seven-year-old asks at breakfast, “Is Grandma coming back?” You’ve answered this question three times already. Your coffee’s gone cold while you search for new words that might make the reality stick this time. Later that afternoon, you find him building a Lego spaceship, laughing at something funny on TV, as if nothing happened. That…
Did you cry in the grocery store yesterday when you saw their favorite food? Do you still have their phone number saved in your phone even though it’s been disconnected for months? Do you sometimes feel okay, and then guilty for having a good moment on others? Grief doesn’t follow a neat timeline that people…
A stillbirth is defined as the death of a baby from 20 weeks of incubation to attempted birth. What makes a stillbirth different is that the mother experiences the birth and death of her child in one single traumatic event within the entirety of her pregnancy. Surprisingly, experiencing a stillbirth is quite common. According to…