Jan 5, 2023
When I think of retirement, I often think of people moving to
Florida or perhaps helping out by spending extra time caring for
grandchildren. However, that is not how today’s guest, Jim, spends
his retirement. When Jim retired, he started working part-time at a
local funeral home helping newly bereaved parents navigate through
the worst time of their lives.
When Jim’s 16-year-old daughter. Kaitlyn, died suddenly while at
tennis practice, he felt completely lost. He and his wife went to
the hospital and were told by the staff to take as much time as
they needed with their daughter. They were offered a lock of her
hair to take home with them as a keepsake. They were then left
alone with no idea what to do. They spent some time with Kaitlyn
and then went home. The next day, Jim’s wife made the painful call
to school that Kaitlyn would not be going to school that day or
ever again, for that matter. Jim had to call a funeral home to
arrange for someone to take her daughter’s body after the
autopsy.
Jim initially fell into a deep depression. He actually became
suicidal, but eventually found his way back to living. He found a
great counselor and then a great support group for parents whose
children had died through a local hospice. He turned his life
around and found purpose again. He started attending the support
group faithfully and then helped lead it, but he often thought back
to those first hours and days when he and his wife had no one to
help guide them.
This is what drew him to his position at the funeral home. He is
now the guide that he needed six years ago. He is the person
helping families make those early decisions and helps answer the
question, “What do we do now?” He quickly leads grieving parents to
the support group that took him much longer to find. Jim gives
these parents so much, but it helps him as well. Every time Jim
helps a family in this way, he feels Kaitlyn close by. He feels her
presence and that gives him hope and healing as well.
To read Jim's blog, visit journeyfromdespairtohope.com