Mother of a Murdered Child and So Much More

Hi, my name is Tina. I am the mother of seven children. Three of them are adults, one is a teenager and the other three are under 12. They've been my life since 1992. Everything I've done has been with them in mind. This isn't to say I don't take time for myself, I just do it strategically. My world was derailed in January of this year when my 20 year old son, my second oldest, was murdered. All his life, his siblings called him my favorite and now he's gone. The past six months have been mostly a blur. Fortunately, the parents of lost children club is very supportive.

In addition to being a mother, I am also a writer. I've been writing online for the past five years and I've made a little money. At this point, I'm making about $2,000 a month and hope to double that by the end of this year. It's not a lot, but it pays some of the bills and I feel fortunate to have an income I could survive on if I ever found myself a single parent. I'm also working on a book about job interviews that will be self-published on Amazon soon. I run a small Facebook group for local job seekers.

I hope to be pretty active on this site, writing about things that are important to me as a parent, a writer and a mother of a murdered child. Since I've begun this journey, I've found that many people just don't know what to say when they find out a mother has lost their child. I'm here to help. There are some things you should never say, like "he's in a better place" and "at least you have other children". In most cases, there isn't really a need to say anything, but to listen. Having someone to share with is much better than hearing empty condolences.