Drs. Gloria and Heidi Horsley welcome Ron Villano to a webinar about finding your “zing” after you’ve lost a child. Villano is a licensed psychotherapist, bereavement coach, national speaker, and author. Villano lost his son, Michael, and knows exactly how it feels to lose a child. His first tip is to give yourself permission to do something new, even if it’s “just for now.” Remember that when you choose to change your thoughts, you’re also choosing to change your life and that’s immensely powerful. All of the power is within you.

“An avalanche of change begins with just one drop of light,” he says, which is something that took him a long time to realize. Michael both gave him life and took his life, he explains. It’s a balance of reaching out to people while also isolating yourself in the “right ways.” Michael died in 1998 when he was killed by a trailer on a main highway in New York. They were all teens, no speeding was involved, and it was very much a freak accident. It’s suspected that the teens  blew out a tire, and the tractor trailer on the other side of the road didn’t see them in time.

The Worst Loss

“It was one of the happiest days of my life,” he recalls. Villano had just got a promotion, it was a sunny day, and it wasn’t until Villano got home that he found out his son had been killed. “I went to my bed…and stared at the ceiling.” He was in total shock, and says he was gone for a long time.

By giving himself permission to grieve and try something new, he began to heal.