Workaholic Dad’s Emotional Letter After Finding Out His 8-Year-Old Son Died During A Conference Meeting

TELL PARENTS! When SUDEP claimed my sister many years ago, it was not yet named or recognized. She just somehow died of what never killed anyone. We were devastated. Two years later, SUDEP was acknowledged. TELL PARENTS SUDEP CAN HAPPEN and not just to juveniles. My sis was over 25. Thank you, and please be aware of both SUDEP and SEIZURE FIRST AID (patient on side, nothin gin mouth, keep head safe from hitting things, time seizure, note symptoms, and just always call 911 b/c you never know, okay?)... Peace.

to all the parents that *have* to work long hours, to keep their family fed (especially the single parents)... as a kid of such parents, may I please say that the best solution is: FOCUSED time, doing something that the kid wants to do WITH YOU. It may be once a week, for 1-2 hours. But if it is some part of their world that you can enter, and experience, it will mean the world to them. It can be as simple as colouring-in, playing 'tea', watching them climb a tree, having a picnic & reading a book outside, listening to them sing. Whatever it may be: if it's consistent, and constant.... it IS enough. Consistency is more important than duration. I wish you all good things.

And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon Little boy blue and the man in the moon "When you coming home, dad?" "I don't know when" But we'll get together then You know we'll have a good time then

I feel for this dad and his overworked self. It made me realize how lucky I was to work from home and enjoy my son as he was growing up. I dropped him off at school in the morning and picked him up in the afternoon. As we drove home he would always say, Can we go to the park? And we did. Later the question was, Can we play put put? Mini golk that was near his school, and we always did. I love the fact that I got have a son and to enjoy all those wonderful times. I am sorry for your loss but you are lucky you have another son and a chance to make the most of it and appreciate him. Good luck.

I have lost two of my babies. My first daughter in 2016 only lived about 15 minutes. My son was stillborn just 6 months ago. His twin, my only living child spent 17 days in the NICU and is now growing and thriving. With my husband's full support, I quit my demanding job to stay home. It's so nice to know that on his days off we KNOW 100% that we can all be together and we don't have to work around my work schedule too. Yes, it's made things tight but I cherish every day I wake up with her and no amount of money will change that. This kind of grief is compounded by now having a child that is a twinless twin and every milestone and life event the living twin encounters, the parents will also be thinking about the twin that passed and what they should be sharing with their sibling. Our doctor also told us to watch out for survivors guilt in our daughter as she grows older. He said it's very common with the living twin. Breaks my heart anyone has to suffer this unimaginable loss.

Darn onion ninjas...

I learned in grief counseling that it’s normal to have unreasonable guilt after a terrible loss. (Not everyone has that reaction and that’s normal too.) You were working: that’s what adults do. You were building a life for yourself and your family. That’s a good thing. I know it’s not my place to have an opinion on this, but I’ll say it anyway: you didn’t do anything wrong. Grief is bad enough; you don’t deserve anguish too. It’s not my place to say this either, but I’ll say it: you gave your son a great life and you were a great father. If some people don’t tell you that, it’s because they don’t think it’s their place and also because it’s so clear that they might not realize you’re doubting yourself.

'What happened buddy' destroyed me. I can't even imagine it

I wish my death comes when I am asleep

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! im crying so bad right now

I got news for this Dad. You may not think Wiley is with you when you do those things he can't now...but he is. Right there. Beside all of you..enjoying every moment. He will always be with you. My sincere condolences on your loss.

Sorry for your loss it's the hardest thing in the world. Prayers with you and your family.

RIP little man.

It seems so unfair. I hope y'all can find a way to get better.

I am sorry I can't finish reading this. This is very unbearably heartbreaking. I have an eight years old and I can't imagine losing him.

I had a friend die suddenly in his early 20s due to epilepsy. His poor roommate found him the morning after in his bed. It was a shock to our entire friend group. His funeral was beautiful and full of colourful flowers and life, just like he was.

Unforseen tragedy, grief, sorrow... all so part of human experience. Its always easy to judge in a hind sight . We have to trust we do the best and learn to do better next time...thank you for sharing to help us all to learn.

I lost my only sibling to suicide 32 years ago, and I suffer PTSD because of it. My parents, feeling guilty, didn't want to talk about it/him because it was too painful, so I had lots of bad feelings bottled inside me. I wrote poetry to express some of my sorrow, but it was too hard on a 14-year-old to deal with, and I fell into a deep depression. (I had almost died in a car wreck 1 year prior, almost to the day, and that didn't help matters) I still deal with depression on a daily basis. I'm glad you are improving your relationship with your parents because I didn't get that luxury. I don't feel close to them at all. They are extremely loving to my son, who is an only child, but they weren't that way with me. I was spoiled at times, but they never say, "I love you," and that hurts. Your surviving son is going to have a lot of hurt feelings to work through, so make sure he talks about it with you. I can only imagine how close the twins were, and he'll always feel it.

so sad

So very sad and I know your wife must be suffering also. She gave birth to the twin boys and I assume was with them everyday. Just as heartbreaking for her as well.

Awww, why is it that only when s**t hits the fan we realize that some of the thing we think are important don't actually matter for s**t? And even then, we go back to doing that s**t again, because we believe in a higher calling and s**t?

Oh,very sad indeed. I will say this, reading his story, it does sound like he was a present dad, and the the son was an intelligent young man. Yes try to spend time with loved ones, friends, even those with whom we don't get along, because life is short, and no one belongs to anyone.

I am sending you and your family my special wishes for your continued growth on the journey you are going on; as you take the special memories of your son with you to a new normal. I am so sorry for your loss and pray for your peace of mind as you forgive yourself.

Father looks like the archetypical hipster douchebag. And in need of "SEE ME" attention instead of dealing with this privately. It is not doing anything now. Nice rack on the mom, by the way.

It is so hard not to overwork. Most jobs require it if you want to be able to pay bills and help pay for your child's education, just so they can go to college and enter into the same cycle all over again. This story is not new. The problem is not new. We prioritize paid labor as our standard of productivity and self-worth. We do not reward any other type of action as a society. How many novels, movies, and songs have said the same thing? The problem is no one has figured out how to revise our current system. We work more hours now than ever. You can say the meetings aren't important and that emails don't matter, but if you don't go to that meeting, if you don't answer that email, then you won't have a job. You can step down and take an "easier" job, but retail workers, food service workers, factory workers, they have that same struggle. This is not something the individual can just decide to do, it is something society must demand as a norm.

Oh my I couldn't even imagine!

Nobody should ever lose a child, and nobody should ever beat themselves because they worked for a living to provide for their family. Yes, we make tough choices every day and you can't always be there for your kids every time you would like. I was very lucky as a single parent that I worked for myself and could be at home and keep a roof over our heads. Appreciate every moment of every day, it's good advice.

The thing that this family has gone through is not fare. It's sad to see that they had to have a child taken from them, no person deserves that let alone family. And then a kid having their brother being taken from them, I could never imagine. I hope that your family is able to spend time together, for the time lost.

A friend and his wife lost their 4 year old several years ago. It was heartbreaking. They started the Danny Did Foundation which has make great strides. Reading this story, I think they need more exposure.

Nobody on their death bed ever said "I wish I'd worked more"

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We needed a new angel.

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Ok, please don't think I'm heartless... But, instead of starting a support group for parents... Or some other group to help children without parents. He posts it on LinkeIn and shares a letter that is very private and personal? Like, I do NOT HAVE CHILDREN, (I am not Mother Material, never will be) But should that have happened to me that stuff stays private!!! Almost like he is capitalizing on Social Media to make himself go Viral at the Expense of his dead, (if this story is true) child!! Like C'mon... Do you have to share everything?!!! Even the death of a child? What is stopping people from putting a webcam in every nook of their home and just living public to the world? Like Dude, keep your son's journal to yourself, you are making a mockery of the whole situation.... Just saying Please Pandas I mean no offence and am hurt by the story... But some things are not meant to be shared to the Internet world, it takes away from the gravity Peace and Good Health to tall