Author: Charlotte Turner
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You do not need to be a ‘good friend’ when you’re grieving
Since joining the world of bereaved parents, having already spent a few years in the world of bereaved children, I’ve found it surprising and also saddening to see how many grieving people are wracked with guilt over the fact they feel (or perhaps are being made to feel) that they aren’t being good enough friends.…
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Wardrobe zen – Marie Kondo meets IKEA PAX hack tutorial
In times of stress and when I need to regain a semblance of control over life, I find great comfort in organising. It’s probably my favourite activity all the time but it’s especially soothing when I’m feeling low, when my grief hits me hard enough to make brainwork impossible but leaves enough energy and motivation…
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Cornwall – our most treasured places
I would say that Cornwall bookended, and therefore was the inspiration – along with our ‘Big Adventure’ – for what was to become Travels With My Son, and so it feels only right that Cornwall is where I begin. Our son Stewie was never technically ‘with’ us in Cornwall. When we first visited he was…
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Our home – A never ending project
We bought our South East London home in early 2015 when there was a brief ‘lucky dip’ in the crazily rising prices of the exploding housing market. Set on top of and built into a very steep hill (which we reasoned was the explanation the neighbours were all so old, and wouldn’t it keep us…
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One piece at a time – the power of puzzles for healing
Jigsaw puzzles are perhaps the most perfect activity for people in the trenches of grief, and generally anybody who would like some mental and emotional respite. There was a long period around the time we were waiting to find out why Stewie had died, and after we did, where all I could manage to do…
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Symbolic sewing – Zero Waste Dress
This zero waste linen dress was my first creation after Stewie was born. In the three weeks between his funeral and my six week doctors check up, when I was utterly bereft and broken and the finality of everything had really hit me, I would go into his nursery and sit at my new table…
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Falling into darkness, but finding a way back to the light
On my very worst day, perhaps a couple of weeks after my son’s funeral, I stumbled into the woods and sat sobbing in the shade of a fallen tree that I had run past many times in the days when my son was just an abstract idea in the outer reaches of my imagination, and…
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“Of course you want to be pregnant again”
This is for the parents who are walking the unbearable path of life without their children, whilst struggling with wanting to grow their families. If this is you, I am so sorry that you’re here, but hope these words might help you feel less alone. It was a few hours after I had given birth…
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Aching Arms
Aching Arms is a charity which is very close to our hearts, as it supports parents who have experienced the heartbreak of losing their baby during pregnancy, at birth or soon after. This support is immeasurably important as this kind of loss can feel completely isolating as well as absolutely devastating. Knowing this from personal…
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Rediscovering my purpose – Travels With My Son
I had just attended a womens’ circle for womb healing, intended to help us become more in tune with our inner selves and our creativity, as well as healing past trauma and releasing emotional blockages. It was pretty woo woo even by my standards, but seven months on from the reality shattering stillbirth of my…
Travels With My Son 