My husband Robin was a wonderful person. He was a huge animal lover, enjoyed line dancing, collecting Transformers figures, and Star Trek.  He passed away when he was 32 due to complications from type 1 diabetes. He was born near York, England, where he grew up. When he was in college, he came to study abroad in the United States at Baldwin Wallace University, where we met. After graduation, he immigrated to the United States and we got married. Shortly after he started to get sicker and sicker but fought to the bitter end.

I decided that I needed to talk with someone who would be able to listen and understand what I was going through at the time. I had lost my dad several years earlier, when I was 18, and felt that I never was able to get through that grief. When my husband passed away, I immediately found the need to find someplace to help me get through it.  Cornerstone was just that place. It was there that I found community with people who would be able to relate with me.

At Cornerstone, I participated in a variety of their many services, one of which was individual counseling. I was so grateful to talk one-on-one with a counselor about whatever I was feeling and what life was going to be like moving forward. I loved my counselor, she was so helpful and even was able to make me laugh. I would highly recommend this service.

I also joined the spouse loss support group which was such an important piece of what got me through those first few months. I really liked the different topics we discussed, and the fact that it was the same group of people for the whole time.  We were able to develop a sense of community. It was so good to see other people who were going through the exact same thing that I was going through, who would understand just what I meant when I told my story. Our group leader was wonderful and made everyone feel included and valued. Four years later, I still meet with my group members for dinner to talk about how we are doing on our grief journey and life in general.

At Cornerstone, I felt free to express what I was feeling and talk through those feelings. I absolutely credit Cornerstone with my ability to work through my grief and move forward while still honoring my late husband’s memory. It has been life changing. I do not know where I would be if I did not have access to Cornerstone’s services. I was very young when my husband passed away. At the time I did not know ANYONE at all who was in a similar situation. Although no one can know exactly the special relationship that you had with your loved one, it is still good to talk through your similar experiences of loss.