Honestly Amber

I talk about mental health a lot. I talk about teen mental health even more. Between my own very real, deep struggles and mental healthy journey and losing my son to suicide, it’s hard to ignore. And I don’t even want to. One of the most powerful things in my life has been learning about…

I became a Life Coach because my world totally and completely changed after being coached and working through a life coaching program myself. When I say totally and completely changed, I’m not exaggerating, not even a little bit. I was so hooked, not only to my own transformation, but to the work itself. The concepts,…

Holiday grief is it’s own animal. You have the everyday grief that exists as you go about your daily life missing your person or your people, and then you add in a time of the year that we typically gather as families and friends, hold traditions and spend extra time together. During no other time…

It’s been over a year now. We’re past all the “firsts” that are difficult to navigate and past all the wonderings of what that would feel like or be like. They say time heals. I don’t think time itself is the healer. For me, time has presented a space for me to feel, to experience…

It’s been over 8 months since my life changed in ways I didn’t know it could. Losing Teagan changed me. It challenged me to my very core. From the very, very beginning I promised myself I would do whatever I had to do to be “ok”. I wanted to know how to cope in healthy…

I’ve been going through boxes of pictures, cards, and kids stuff in an attempt to organize it better. I really want all my pictures and memories documented, organized and easily accessible instead of stored away in a plastic tote. Tonight I found our Christmas card from 2020. When I read what I wrote, I was…

Happy Birthday sounds totally ridiculous to me. I don’t know what words don’t sound totally ridiculous for me to utter today though. I ordered some balloons this morning. The kids wanted to send some to heaven and I wanted something to leave at your headstone. I asked for a masculine happy birthday something or other.…

Today was messy. Six months ago tonight, at about this time, I knew something was terribly, terribly wrong. No one seemed as convinced as I was but I knew my instinct wasn’t wrong. My heart knew. My gut knew. This picture was taken less than 24 hours before your last breath. And it would be…

I have felt such a pull on my heart to raise awareness and talk more about mental health and suicide prevention since Teagan passed almost six months ago. I felt an urge very early on to share his story and talk so other people who were also struggling might have the courage and want to…