CANTON, Ohio — **Editor's Note: This article contains the topic of suicide**
On a sprawling piece of land in Canton, there are sunflower-covered signs to welcome you. It's a loyal flower that always finds the light.
"2019, Jan. 1, Light after Loss was born because I didn't want anybody else sitting in the darkness by themselves," said Light After Loss founder, Shannon Ortiz.
That darkness happened when her husband, Craig, took his own life in 2016.
"I learned as a counselor that the sudden traumatic loss of whether it's suicide or homicide or overdose is very different — the grief I felt in 2011 for my mom in 2014 for my dad," Shannon said.
The pain was all consuming, but Shannon made a choice: She wanted others to know they could make it through.
"So, I quit my job, threw myself into trauma therapy, which is different than grief therapy," she told us.
At Light After Loss hope and healing center, survivors of suicide loss and other traumatic events can get the support they need through education, resources, and hope circles.
"When a suicide does happen, there's not a whole lot on the other side," Shannon sayd. "For those who are left behind, it is very lonely. It's isolating. There's shame, there's embarrassment, there's guilt, there's every emotion you can imagine, and most of us struggle in silence."
At Light After Loss, you don't have to.
"I really wanted people to come to a place so somebody can say, 'Me too,'" Shannon explained. "Because that alone is healing."
It's a safe place to go where grief isn't judged and no timelines are set for your pain. All there is is understanding.
"In some ways, it's a forever process — that the grief doesn't get smaller," Shannon says. "We grow around our grief."
Shannon's found a way to grow: She's happily remarried to her husband, Scott, though her grief is a forever part of her. Still, she says, there's always hope.
"There's always hope, always hope. And those are not even my words; that's one of our survivors. I think one of the most common grief quotes [is] 'Grief is the price of love.' So, you should be sad, you should be crying and doing all the things that, you know, love makes us do."
Shannon knows this to be true. She lives it every day, and knows Craig is proud of her and their daughters.
"How strong and just amazingly resilient and how much they share his light and live his legacy," she said, through tears. "I'm sure he's smiling."
For more information on Light After Loss, click HERE.
The U.S. suicide and crisis lifeline is available 24/7 by calling or texting 988. There is also an online chat at 988lifeline.org.
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