I had just gotten serious about writing my book on Marriage when we lost our youngest son. At age 20, Tim was a vibrant, intelligent, athletic, and determinedly cool kid. A tragic skateboard fall ended all of that. And stopped my writing in its tracks. How could I write about marriage when my son had just died?

Ten years later as I again got serious about writing my book on Marriage, I didn't plan to include much about our loss and grief; that seemed somehow off topic. As I wrote and as friends read and encouraged me to go deeper, I began to see the significance of our profound loss and shared grief to our marriage journey. My chapter on grief, entitled "The Depths," took shape as an essential integration of everything that had gone before.

In this podcast with Open to Hope, I share about that chapter of our marriage, the shock of losing our son, our very separate griefs, and its impact on our marriage. One of my dear early readers said, "I would hate to think that you and Matt did not survive Tim's death." To which I had to think, "Did we?"

The podcast airs Thursday, October 20, on Open to Hope and will continue to be accessible to listen free of charge. Listen here.

The death of a child is perhaps the most difficult challenge we face and it is even more difficult on a marriage. If you know of someone walking this treacherous ground, please share this post/link with them, as we are all simply walking each other home.

Marriage Unveiled is available on in paperback, ebook and audiobook on Amazon, Audible, and other sites.