Episode #9: A Friend at the Table

Nov 1

Written By Grit and Grace With a Side of Grief .

“The amount of love for my son, it grows every day and he’s not even here.”

— Ann

“(Alex) was very edgy and very bublby and very outgoing. When he walked into a room he wanted to be noticed so everyone knew he was there ...when he passed that whole bubbly personalty, it was so quiet.
————————————————————-
He could make me laugh. So when he got in trouble he would just make me laugh and got in less trouble.”

— Ann

“I wanted my family to be happy again. I knew it wouldn’t be the same kind of happy but I wanted to create an environment of happiness. I didn’t know what it would look like but I knew I had the desire. I wasn’t going to give up on that idea. ”

— Ann

Some would say that grief is a solo journey. A painfully unique experience that leaves a person feeling alone and isolated. And while this is true, underneath the surface, deep in the caves of heartbreak, I believe, is a weary thread that connects us to one another. Not because our circumstances are the same - because no loss is ever the same - but because that thread is what makes us human. We live and we lose and then somehow we survive. And, as you will hear, we do it for love.

And that was never more apparent when Ann Handy joined us for this episode. We met through a mutual friend. In 2006, Ann and her husband Richard, of Medway, MA, suffered a tragic loss when their 13-year-old son, Alex, was struck and killed on his bike.

Life as she knew it was gone. Here she shares with us how grief consumed her in those first few years, how it transformed into purpose through a non-profit, and how, she believes, it has allowed her to be more of who she truly is.

We laugh about casseroles, haggle about superpowers and get real about life and death. Like old friends…hanging onto a thread.

1 hour, 15 minutes

“I remember having this dream, it was just a meadow. Alex was sitting on a bench with our (late) dog. OK, he’s at peace. But I’m not.
————————————————————
He was very calm and he put his hand on my hand and it was such a soothing gesture.”

— Ann