Скачать или смотреть Grieving a Child Still Alive: Healing Through Ambiguous Loss in Addiction

No one prepares you for this kind of grief—the grief of watching your child’s body move through the world while their spirit is slowly swallowed by addiction.

I grieved her laugh. I grieved her innocence. I grieved the light in her eyes. I grieved the little girl I once tucked into bed, even while she was still sleeping under my roof.

It’s a confusing kind of loss. People tell you, “At least she’s alive.” But parents like us know that sometimes it feels like we’ve already lost them, even while we’re still holding on.

There’s no funeral. No casseroles dropped off at the door. Just a quiet, invisible ache that never fully goes away. You watch their body move through the world, but you can’t reach their soul.

As a mom, it broke me. As a therapist, I can tell you this grief has a name—ambiguous loss. It’s the kind of grief that doesn’t come with closure, ritual, or understanding. It lives in the waiting. It lives in the hoping. It lives in the space between love and loss.

But even in that space, there is hope. Addiction doesn’t always win. I’ve seen recovery happen. I’ve seen families rebuild. I’ve seen mothers like me find their way back to peace—one breath, one boundary, one day at a time.

If you’re grieving a child still alive, you’re not crazy. You’re human. And you don’t have to carry that pain alone.

✨ Comment PARENTSUPPORT and I’ll send you the resource I made specifically for parents who feel this exact ache.
✨ Or comment HOPE25 to join The Inner Circle—the space Kimberly built for families like hers to grieve, heal, and hold onto hope together.

Subscribe for more lived-truth conversations from Kimberly and Lyle about parenting through addiction, ambiguous loss, and recovery that begins with your own healing.

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