You are here because you know, somewhere inside, it is truly time to begin the journey forward. You are a man who has experienced the profound loss of someone you love dearly. Feeling despondent? Lost? It could not be more understandable. After all, you had a "Blueprint" for your future mentally and emotionally drawn out ahead of you, which included that someone you love so dearly. That was the future you had planned on...laid your dreams on!
Then, suddenly, your blueprint was brutally ripped away, and you were left not only anguishing for that one you lost, but also wondering, "Where do I go from here?"
As a man, do you feel that instinctive urge to keep all those emotions within grief stuffed deeply inside, where no one will think you unmanly and weak? Do you feel it is wrong to have an urge to seek out those tasks and activities which allow you to organize, systemize and put yourself in control of something after the loss? Anything?
These are not wrong responses. Instead, they are natural reaction of who you are. However, they can be incredibly unhealthy and destructive if not acknowledged, understood, and addressed.
Women - Do you want to understand your man? If the two of you sadly lost a child, do you think he loved that precious gift less because he does not openly cry as often as you...or seemingly not at all? Do you understand why, at times, he puts his own grief aside to care for others, or crawl off to contemplatively spend time alone?
Men grieve and hurt as deeply as a woman, yet men and women are programmed through both Nature and Nurture to do so in a different manner.
Did we men get our "manly" traits from our fathers during childhood, when Dad repeatedly told us, "Big boys don't cry?" Or, were those traits genetically burned into our very DNA from the dawn of mankind, when we spent months away on the hunt, silently and stoically repressing fear as we stalked that which could easily turn the tables and have us as a meal?
Why are women so much more empathetic then men, with an instinct to constantly survey the feelings of others around them? Why do they instinctively desire to gather in groups to share feelings? How can the mother tell the needs of a newborn child when that infant does not even have the ability to speak?
Are these skills and traits something which must be taught, generation after generation, or is each gender, male or female, "pre-wired" to be who we are?
Come inside "Sometimes I Cry In The Shower" and discover how we can begin to heal while being patient with ourselves...and each other. Only through understanding and acceptance can we begin the journey towards a life of wholeness and healing.
Peace and purpose,
R. Glenn Kelly
"As a grieving father, R. Glenn Kelly exposes the inner thoughts of a man who has lost the most precious of gifts; his child. Written with the powerful and honest emotion that only someone who has walked in his shoes can truly understand, R. Glenn provides encouragement, insight, and hope to men who are "in the club no one wants to belong to." He allows us to walk with him on his path from hidden despair to emerging hope as he discovers his way towards living a life that is fulfilling and honoring to the legacy left behind by his son. Although intended for grieving fathers, Sometimes I Cry in the Shower benefits anyone who has lost a loved one, or loves someone who has. With compassion, humor, and sincerity, Mr. Kelly shows us that love never dies and hope is truly eternal."
About the Author: R. Glenn Kelly, grieving and healing father of Jonathan Taylor Kelly, is a Male Grief Support Advocate, Public Speaker and Workshop Presenter. He is just as much at home talking to an audience as he is conversing with friends over dinner. To find out more, or to contact R. Glenn directly, please visit grievingmen.com, where you are invited to share or join in discussions related to the journey of all men who have suffered loss. R. Glenn is enthusiastically available for speaking engagements, grief workshop participation or in other ways he might serve others who have lost a loved one. He can be contacted through email directly at rglennkelly@rglennkelly.com.
