💫 From Loss to Light

💫 From Loss to Light: Navigating the Seasons of Grief and Rediscovering Yourself

The Year That Changed Everything

This past year has tested every part of my heart.
Within just three months, I lost both of my parents a reality that still feels surreal to write.

Watching them slowly deteriorate over the months before, seeing their strength fade, holding their hands through pain and peace it’s an ache that words can’t quite capture.

✨As a nurse for over five decades, I’ve walked beside countless families through grief. I’ve held hands, listened to final whispers, and witnessed love and heartbreak woven together in sacred moments.

But when it’s your own family your mum, your dad the world shifts in a way that only those who’ve been there truly understand.

And for me, this loss has been layered on top of many others.
Over the years, I’ve lost three brothers, my partner, and now both my parents.
Each loss carried its own story, its own ache, and its own lesson in resilience.

💫 The Many Faces of Grief

Grief isn’t linear. It doesn’t fit neatly into stages.
It lingers, shifts, and shows up in the most unexpected ways.

And it’s not just about death.
Grief can emerge anytime we lose something that once defined us a role, a routine, a relationship, or a sense of who we were.

• When a marriage ends, and you’re no longer “the wife.”

• When a long-held career ends, and you feel unseen or “too old.”

• When you lose your health, your home, your financial stability, or your sense of safety.

Each loss asks us to grieve not just what we’ve lost, but who we were within it.

We even grieve with every major life transition turning 40, 50, or 60 those moments where life changes direction and we quietly wonder, Who am I now?

🌿 The Exhaustion of Holding On

Watching someone you love fade is its own kind of heartbreak.
You see the tiredness in their eyes the quiet knowing when the body has had enough, yet the spirit keeps holding on for just one more moment, one more goodbye.

And as families, we hold on too.
We linger between hope and heartbreak, wanting them to stay but not wanting them to suffer.
Those last days, those final conversations, become etched into your soul.

🕊 Sometimes they stay long enough for that final “I love you.”

Even now, I’ve watched how differently my sister and I have grieved the loss of Mum and Dad.
Her way looks different to mine and that’s okay. That’s her journey.
Grief is personal. It’s sacred. It’s never something to be compared or judged.

👩‍⚕️ The Nurse and the Daughter

I’ve spent most of my life caring for others as a nurse, a carer, and a coach.
But in this season, I had to learn how to care for myself too.

As a daughter, I grieved.
As a nurse, I understood.
As a woman, I transformed.

Being both the professional and the family member is a delicate dance holding space for others while your own heart quietly breaks. It’s a balance many carers know too well.

And yet, through all my years in healthcare, nothing compared to the moments I had to tell my parents that another of their sons had passed. I’ve had to do that three times.
Each time, I watched their hearts break a little more.
Each time, it took a piece of me too.

Those experiences shaped who I am they taught me empathy, strength, and the importance of communication.
They’re also part of why I became a coach: to help others navigate the unspoken parts of life loss, change, and the courage to care for themselves through it all.

💫When the Grief Becomes a Mirror

In the quiet after loss, something unexpected happens.
You begin to ask:
Who am I now?
Who am I without them?
What do I want this next chapter to look like?

Grief becomes a mirror reflecting the parts of you that long to be seen again.

It reminds you that life, even after loss, can hold beauty, meaning, and renewal.

✨ Turning Pain Into Purpose

Grief can leave you feeling lost, but it can also awaken something new.
It calls us to reconnect with ourselves to find meaning, to grow, to heal.

For me, it became the foundation of my purpose helping others rediscover themselves after loss, whether that loss is of a loved one, a relationship, a career, or even a version of themselves.

Because grief isn’t a sign of weakness.
It’s proof that love existed.
And love, when honoured, becomes the pathway to healing.

💫 Resilience doesn’t mean you don’t break. It means you learn how to rebuild gently, in your own way.

💖 The Permission to Grieve

The greatest gift you can give yourself is permission.
Permission to feel.
Permission to pause.
Permission to rebuild at your own pace.

There is no timeline.
No “right way.”
No need to rush.

It’s okay to sit quietly.
It’s okay to walk.
It’s okay to cry by the water, to journal, or to simply be.

Be kind to yourself.
Don’t let others judge how you grieve because your journey is uniquely yours.

You are allowed to grieve.
You are allowed to heal.
And you are allowed to rediscover the woman who still exists beneath the pain.

A Closing Reflection

If you are walking through loss of any kind please remember:
You are not broken.
You are becoming.
And while life will never be exactly the same, it can still be beautifully whole in a new way.

Take a breath.
Hold your heart gently.
And trust that even here, in the ache light is waiting to find you again.

With love & vitality,
Rosemary O’Brien, RN
Women’s Vitality Hypno_Coach / The Authentic Vitality Coach
🌿 Helping you find your light after loss.

💌 Gentle Invitation

If this message speaks to your heart, I invite you to explore my upcoming signature program:

✨ Permission to Grieve...A Healing Journey Through Loss, Self-Care & Reclaiming You

This is a sacred space for women ready to navigate life after loss whether that loss is a loved one, a relationship, a role, or a part of yourself.
Together, we’ll walk gently through grief, self-care, and rediscovery one compassionate step at a time.

You don’t have to navigate this alone.
Healing begins with one gentle “yes” to yourself.

💫 Join the waitlist today and be the first to know when doors open.