The Mask: A Father's Reflection on Loss

My first publication (which follows here) was about survival, about trying to stand when the ground had collapsed beneath me. I chronicled my first year of loss as the seasons changed, and I experienced all the events of that year without Ryan. This reflection is about learning to plant seeds in that broken ground. Ten years later, grief remains my constant companion, but it has also become fertile soil from which new meaning, new relationships, and new purpose continue to grow. Ryan's influence on my life is not relegated to memory; it's active in every choice I make to live more intentionally, love more deeply, and serve more generously. When I speak to other grieving parents, when I take professional risks I might once have avoided, when I choose vulnerability over self-protection, I feel him urging me forward. His legacy lives not in my sorrow, but in my willingness to let that sorrow teach me how to be more fully alive. Grief is my constant companion, always walking beside me. Some days, it whispers. Other days, it roars. But it is always there, reminding me of the depth of love I carry. I've learned that healing does not mean forgetting. Healing means remembering differently: less with agony, more with reverence. It means allowing joy back in without guilt. It means carrying both sorrow and gratitude in the same breath.

About the Author :
Michael is an entrepreneur, educator, and executive coach, but at his core he is a father. After the sudden loss of his son Ryan in 2015, Michael turned to writing as a way of surviving grief. His collection of poems and thoughts, The Mask: A Father's Reflections of Loss, gave raw voice to the tears, numbness, and heartbreak of his first year without his child. Ten years later, Michael has continued to live the long journey of grief, learning how to transform unanswerable questions of Why into purposeful reflections on How. This book represents both a continuation of Ryan's story and a testament to the enduring power of love through loss. Michael's professional life has been spent helping leaders and entrepreneurs build meaningful organizations, but his most personal work has been learning how to live with an empty chair at his own table. His reflections are written not as an expert in grief, but as a father who has walked through its fire. Through his writing and speaking, Michael seeks to honor his son by offering hope, honesty, and solidarity to other parents who live with similar loss. He believes grief is something to carry; with love, with courage, and with purpose. Michael lives in Nashville, Tennessee, where he continues to write, teach, and mentor. Most importantly, he continues to tell Ryan's story-because the bond between a father and his son transcends time and space.