By Mark Lemon
whose father was murdered when he was just 12
1. They say that grief occurs in five stages. First there’s denial, followed by anger; then comes bargaining, depression and acceptance. In my opinion, those fives stages don’t really exist. I learned from a young age that you simply learn to build your life around your grief.
2. Grief has this annoying way of taking the shine out of happiness and I found myself not looking forward to the key events across the year, such as Christmas and birthdays.
3. Children learn about feelings by watching the adults around them and I always appreciated adults speaking to me about how I was feeling, giving me a space to express myself with my grief.
4. I’ve learnt that being creative and expressing your grief in the form of writing, drawing or music is a form of healing.
5. Death has reminded me to cherish every photograph taken with our loved ones. Photographs are the only visual memories we will have once our loved ones are gone.
About Mark Lemon
Mark Lemon started writing and publishing books after noticing a lack of diversity in children’s books, and as a father of two dual heritage children himself, knew something had to change. His series of books features his own children, Otis and Thea Lemon, and his debut title Otis Lemon & The Spectacular Submarine was awarded the Platinum Junior Design Award for the Children’s Book of The Year in 2016.
With his latest book The Magical Wood, Mark drew on his own childhood trauma following his father’s murder when he was just 12 years old. Published on the 26th anniversary on his father’s death, the book has been praised by families who are coping with grief or anticipating the death of someone they love.
