Catherine Anaya’s Latest Blog Post: ‘The Growth From Grief’

By: Catherine Anaya

It’s been one year since my ex-husband’s death and my family’s life will never been the same.

We grieved and we grew in ways none of us ever expected. We each made life changes, with some more obvious then others. My decision to leave television news was by far the boldest but surprisingly, seemed to be the easiest. For months I tried to explain to people the inherent need I had to be more present for my family and especially my children who were learning to live with the pain of losing their father.

There was something else happening inside of me though, that I struggled to find the words to explain. The trauma of losing someone so suddenly and so near to us was propelling me to want to do more with my life both at home and at work. I don’t believe in coincidences and I’m sure it wasn’t one when I stumbled upon not one – but two – separate magazine articles talking about the same thing: post-traumatic growth (PTG). Yes! There is actually a scientific definition for what I’ve been experiencing the last year. According to one of the articles I read, PTG was coined by one of the psychologists behind studies of people for whom they said, “Traumatic events can be a catalyst for positive change.”

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