Published in Newsweek Oct 03, 2024 at 4:30 AM EDT

My husband Ronnie Loza went to get a message and just never came home. A blood clot released from his leg, lodging in his heart.

He passed away in January 2012 at the age of 44, leaving me a 41-year-old widow to raise our 18- and 9-year-old sons alone.

My youngest son Steven and I attended grief groups together, along with my niece who was 12 at the time. These groups were beneficial to all of us.

However, after a year and a half, they abruptly closed our center without notice, or even allowed us to say goodbye to people who became like family.

We were all struggling with our grief, and we all grieved differently. My oldest Zach, kept so much in and didn’t show as much grief externally, but Steven wore it on his sleeve.

I knew I had to do something, so I went to college and got my bachelor’s degree with a major in psychology and a minor in sociology with the goal of opening a new center.

It was an incredible amount of work, but also healing for me. I had to put my grief someplace to ensure he didn’t die in vain.

In 2018, our organization Ronnie’s House for Hope was officially a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. We provide peer support grief services to children, teens, and families coping with death at no charge to our families.

We have groups in the school system and at our new center. Allowing grievers a safe space to explore their grief, learn about it, and process it with others who have shared experiences.

Our family is so proud of what we created out of our darkest days. There is something very powerful and healing about helping others get through the darkness and allow them to see some light again.

Allowing parents to learn what a child’s grief looks like and how it differs from theirs.

Raising a grieving child has so many additional challenges. It is a journey and not a destination.

It is not like arriving at a place where suddenly the grief is gone. It is about learning to incorporate grief into your life, like an unwelcome house guest. Eventually, allowing it to walk side by side with the joy you learn to find.

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