My Wake-Up Call – How Tragedy Turned Into Triumph

We have all experienced significant events in our life that in a way have defined who we are.  These events can change our direction and send us down a different road, one that we had not planned on or even thought of.

Sometimes it is a wake up call or a ‘defining moment’ that makes us realize that change is necessary.

For me, that wake up call, that defining moment came in the spring of 1991, when the joy of expecting our second child turned into unimaginable heartache.

The routine doctor’s appointment on that day at 39 weeks shattered our world—a silent sonogram, a still heart of our precious baby, Allison who was to be a sister to our first child, Stacey.

Unless you have gone through this yourself, or lost a young child, it is very difficult to explain the shock, grief, sorrow, anguish, guilt and other many emotions that overwhelmed me that day and forever more.  

I felt like I had been punched in the stomach and couldn’t breathe.  Surely, there was a mistake. 

This could not be happening to me.  But it was.

I would go through the pain of giving birth to a dead child, a funeral, and mourning that continues to this day.  Let me tell you that “time definitely does not heal all wounds”.

I didn’t understand trauma in those days and no one really talked to me about it.  But I had to somehow deal with it.

So it was a wake up call for me.

I decided to help other mothers going through the same pain and joined the Bereaved Mothers of Ontario.  

I realized that life can be short, very short and that I needed to take control of my life and live it to the fullest each day.  The 60-80 hours I was working previously were no longer going to rule my life.  As both my husband and I were big into our careers, we realized the hamster wheel lifestyle had to change.  

So before our military posting to Italy, we gave birth to Kevin, 2 years after Allison died.  When we returned to Canada 3 years later, that’s when I made the decision to be a home-based business entrepreneur so I could work around my kids schedule.

I did my own soul searching of who I was and who I wanted to be.

I developed my vision and made plans on how to get there.  I educated myself on specifics I needed to know and sought out mentors to help me on the bigger issues.

And I became a successful entrepreneur who mentors others on personal branding, business building and wealth creation so they can live life on their terms. 

Now would this have all happened without my wake-up call?  I’ll never know the answer to that question, but I do know this – it definitely was a wake up call for me and although I continue to  mourn the loss of Allison, I am thankful for her changing my life.

So much has changed since then and now with all my experiences in life and business, I’m so grateful to be living my freedom lifestyle here in Mexico.  More on that in another blog.