Tuesday 9 March 2010

Blogging Became Our Therapy ...

The article below features me. It's in April's issue of Company magazine which is out now and is part of a series of four stories entitled 'Blogging Became Our Therapy'.

This blog has been the most cathartic thing I've done in terms of my grief. Writing about my Mum and how I feel about it has helped me to understand myself better and put to bed some of the bad feelings I have.

My loss is ever present, but each time I write on this blog I feel as though I'm writing away some of the pain.

If you click on the article below it will open up so you can actually read it. On a lighter note, if you want to read about the photo-shoot relating to the article click here.

This months Company magazine is written lots of different bloggers, there is a competition here ... where you could vote for me if you are feeling particularly generous!



22 comments:

  1. I'm a new follower, after seeing you on Company's website.
    May I congratulate you on your bravery in setting up this blog. I hope it has helped you come to terms with your loss. I don't know what I'd do without my Mum and it's heartbreaking to read your posts.
    xx

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  2. Phew, sat in tears here again. I miss my dad so much some times and I am so aware that I nearly wasnt there for my boys. I think you look fab in the photo though

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  3. Wonderful article Laura and beautiful photograph.

    xxxxxx

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  4. I don't think I've said it before, but I am so sorry for your loss. It was hard enough losing my Dad when I was 36, I can't imagine losing a parent so early on in life. Lovely, heartfelt interview. x

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  5. You just made me cry. I can't imagine what it must be like for you. I don't always appreciate my mother enough, but I shall think of you when I'm spending the day with her on Sunday. Your mother WOULD be proud of you.

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  6. This is a fabulous article Laura, you have me in tears, again.

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  7. Just found this via Twitter. I lost my mum to cancer when I was 17 and so was at the stage of wanting her suffering to end. Much harder at your age. Even so, I wasn't yet at an age to have had adult conversations with her and don't seem to have many memories of her when she wasn't ill. I don't think I ever properly dealt with her death, I think I just pushed it to the side and kept going. I wrote a blog post about her yesterday. You mentioned that your mum wrote a letter to you, I wish mine had done that, as you say it would be very precious.

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  8. I voted for you on the website sweetie! Have never found this blog of yours before. Your very brave going in a national magazine like that! I dont buy company but may have to this month! x

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  9. I have just come across your blog, and I am sat here with my eyes filling up. I know exactly how you feel.
    I too lost my mum to cancer when I was 12. That was 18 years ago. I miss her like crazy. It still hurts like hell. Tomorrow will be a hard day with it being Mothers Day. Love you mum, not a day goes by where I dont think of you xxx

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  10. It must have been so tough for you losing your mum so young, and she must have been heartbroken to leave her beautiful daughter. This is such a moving article, thank you for sharing xx

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  11. Just read Company in tears. My dad died when I was six (I'm only seventeen now) of cancer. It is sort-of nice to see someone in the same boat as me, as none of my friends have lost someone so close to them, so talking about it was quite difficult. I think this blog that you are doing is amazing - your mum would be so proud of you. Although I love my step-dad, I still think about my dad everyday, and I do still cry (it helps tbh). It hurt me that some of my friends said: "oh you were only young, so you wouldn't have understood that much, so it couldn't have been as upsetting". Personally, I believe that the cloud of confusion made it, if possible, harder. I respect you so much, and will follow your blog from now on. Lots of love, Laura. xx

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  12. Just been reading your article. So proud of you - you look absolutely beautiful. Your mum would be so proud xx

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  13. What a very open interview. A good read and I am sure it helped a lot of people :) I am sure your mum would be proud!

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  14. Your mum would be so proud.

    I had a school friend who had lost her mum to cancer. She told me about it when I asked why she wore her mum's wedding band.

    I remember how hard it was to talk about it, but we did, a little.

    We were teenagers and I was in that phase of taking my mum totally for granted, if not actively disliking her for curtailing my freedoms. It was frightening to think about not having a mum at all. That fear made it so hard for someone like me, who hadn't suffered such a loss, to relate to my friend who had. There is such a void of experience, and it was too much for a girl of my emotional maturity at the time. I wish I had been a better friend, because I did care very much.

    I enjoy both your blogs very much, thanks for writing them.

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  15. You have my vote - your writing is very emotive x

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  16. I'm a new follower after seeing your article in Company, and completely admire you for this blog. It's a wonderful thing you're doing x

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  17. Well how about that! You go through an awful experience, you find a creative outlet, you reach other people, and suddenly you have helped people with their own grieving. Way to follow your heart through the dark. Incredible.

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  18. My Father was an orphan by the age of ten. Your story made me think about my Father and what his young life must have been like. His birth certificate reads 'father unknown'. Which carried with it such a stigma in those days, as some would cruelly say a bastard. His mother died and he had no one to care for him. No loving Father or Sister or Grandparents so he had to go into an Orphanage. I can't imagine what life must have been like for him, left all alone without anyone in the world. He must have been so afraid and lost. Life can be so cruel.

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  19. I am a new blogger and new follower after reading your article in Company magazine. You inspired me to write my own, with a similar purpose to be cathartic and as you said "write away the pain"

    Although your blog must be heartbreaking and so emotional for you to write at times, it must give you some comfort in the way in which it offers other followers a sign of hope that they're not the only one grieving although somedays it feels it.

    Love, luck and happiness
    x x x

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  20. when i was reading company recently in tesco on my coffee break, i had no idea i'd come across an article like yours. when i read that your mum had died i felt really upset, my mum did too and i've never really dealt with it. i kept on reading until you said she died when you were nine and from cancer, i nearly cried, i couldn't read anymore. My mum died when i was 9 too, after 5 years of battling cancer, i can barely remember her. Sorry but i never read the last of your article, it was too moving and i hate crying, i feel like i'm bringing everyone else down if i do. I'm really glad your coping and i think your blogs are wonderful. I read somewhere your mum wrote you a letter, as did mine, and i'm so glad. My nan also told me when i was little that everytime you find a white feather it's a sign someones watching over you, silly really, but it helps me through hard days.

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  21. i have so much admiration for you. i read your story in Company magazine and was amazed at how similar my experience has been to yours. My mother died when i was 10 after suffering lung cancer. The fact that she was ill was hidden from me until the day before her death,(my brothers and sister are much older than me so knew from the time of her diagnosis)leaving me feeling increasingly isolated and in shock. i am now 21 and am paying for not grieving properly at the time, instead being happy little fiona and throwing myself into schoolwork. i've spent the last 6 years of my life in and out of hospital for eating disorder treatment. i don't know if i'll ever know how to live without my mother and it terrifies me, but reading your brave and inspirational story gives me hope that one day i will. Thank you so much xXx

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  22. I too saw your story in Company magazine, only today, the first thing I wanted to do was look up your blog, as I've never really had an outlet from when my Mum died when I was 13, it is the most horrific thing to go through and I miss her every single day, I think about how my life would be if she were here, or how she would cuddle me or kiss me and make me feel better about everything. My Mum loved me and my 7 brothers and sisters so much and she showed her love for us everyday. My Dad is getting married in 2 weeks' to a lady who is the total opposite to my Mum and I know that is going to be a tough day - I'm actually dreading it.

    Anyway, it's comforting to know so may people know what it feels like.

    Thank You

    xx

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