Welcome to the Sibling Survivors Site!

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The Sibling Survivors of Suicide Loss site aims to provide a safe place for anyone who has lost a sister or brother to suicide. It’s a place to share memories, discuss your feelings and experiences, and to share photos. It’s a place to connect with others who also miss their sister or brother.

The site was created in 2001 by Michelle Linn Gust. She passed the site on to the POS-FFOS Internet Community in November of 2014. It officially re-opened on January 4, 2015.

We invite you to explore the site and participate. We need you; help us make this site a safe and supportive place for other sibling survivors. You can participate by Creating a  Guest Post, sharing an Inspirational Thought or Message, or Writing a Letter to your Sibling. Please see those pages for more information.

Sibling Survivors is maintained by volunteers from the Parents of Suicides (POS) and Friends and Families of Suicides (FFOS) Internet Community and others. Learn more about these groups on the About Us page.

Is this real???

Guest Post
It was around 2:00 am, my phone rang, it was my step-father. I immediately thought something was wrong with my mother. She has been chronically ill most of my life and in the back of my head I was thinking, “oh no, this is it, she’s gone.” As my step-father continued, the next phrase didn’t seem real….”your brother has shot himself”. Nowhere in my mind did this make sense.
It has been almost three months since that night and I still question why. I find myself “googling” his name often, subconsciously hoping something other than obituaries will come up. But still, there they are, he’s still gone. There will never be another conversation, another voicemail, another silly text, another hug, another “love you little brother”. There will never be another…anything. I think about it daily and I have cried some good cries in solitude but I don’t “feel” as much as I did about it a month or so ago. Is something wrong with me? Shouldn’t I be grieving more? I miss my brother immensely and I loved him very much, shouldn’t I be beside myself? I read stories of those that can’t sleep, can’t stop crying, can’t eat and I wonder why I don’t feel this way. I just want this all to be a dream.

Julianne

Guest Post, Letters
You took your own life April 20th at 56 years old. When we heard that you never made it home the night before, we were hoping you had gone to your cabin which you said so many times, spoke to your soul. We were hoping that you needed some quiet and calm being surrounded by nature.
I will never forget that afternoon when the police cars pulled into my driveway. One officer told me to have a seat. He then told me that you had been found and that he was sorry to tell me that you were deceased. You took your life in the very place that spoke to your soul. Your happy place. My stomach turned, I couldn’t think, couldn’t drive. I instantly felt the urge to scream WHY???
I asked how you died. The method you used was something that you had to have researched to find. We have found your journals. You planned this for some time. Just waiting for the final straw. I know that you have fought mental illness most of your life.
The last time you were here I repeatedly asked you how I could help you, did you need to go to the hospital. You stood up, told me you were fine and walked out the door. Why wouldn’t you let me help you? You walked out the very door I expect you to come walking through every day since.
Where four siblings once stood, stand only three. Our children and grandchildren are taking it the worst. How they loved their Aunt Julie. Emily kept your ashes in her room until your burial. She couldn’t handle the thought of you being kept at the funeral home. Your urn was taken to Dylan’s new house. He was so excited for you to see it but you never will. He wants you to be proud of him. That’s how much they love you. You were surrounded by love but your illness didn’t allow you to see or feel it.
You have also put me in a hell of a spot. I was the one that had the police do a welfare check on you so I was the one that was told about your death. had to call and make arrangements to have your body brought home, I had to call the medical examiner and hear about the position they found you in, I had to call the funeral home, I had to tell my family that you were gone. How could you have done that to me?
You left before mom’s 80th birthday in August. We were planning a party for her. I don’t know how we can celebrate her life when all we’ll be thinking about is how you ended yours and left us heartbroken.
Your siblings, nieces, nephews and mom had to get rid of your clothes and toiletries so your boyfriend of 15 years could semi function in the house that he shared with you. The house next door to ours. Your choice to end your life has left a trail of devastation. Now I get to be the executor of your “estate”.
I hope that you have finally found peace and are free of pain. Your family and friends’ pain has just begun.
My pain has just begun.
Your sister

I miss you, Joey

Guest Post
My big brother and only sibling took his life last week. He seemed sad in the week leading up to it but never did any of us think he would take his life. The guilt is endless, all the warning signs I missed. He was at my house almost every day and best friends with my husband. Our family is so distraught. I always protected him my entire life and now I didn’t. I was minutes late to the scene. I pray that he is safe and worry free. Every day gets longer and worse without him here.

Sister

Guest Post
My sister killed herself about a month and a half ago on March 13th. She was 17.5 years old. I’m four years older than her. I’m having a hard time talking about it but reading the other stories on this site really helped me. It made me feel less alone that others are going through this too. I know I haven’t had a long time to move through my grief but I wanted to share some things that have helped me so far. Therapy has helped. So has journaling. Whenever I feel really terrible, forcing myself outside to take a walk never fails at making it a little easier to breathe. I’ve been watching videos of people talking about their near death experiences and I’ve found that comforting. For me it’s also been helpful to listen to podcasts and read books on sibling loss processes. Somehow understanding the process makes it feel less scary. Maybe at some point I’ll be more ready to share about my sister. I miss her so much. Before I read these stories I felt so alone and like no one could possibly understand. I want to thank everyone on here for sharing their stories. Hearing them has really made a difference. I’ve been feeling so much regret. I wish I had done more to support my sister. It makes it more bearable to know that other people feel similarly.

To My Brothers

Guest Post
I miss you both. I’ve been listening to your old favorite artists to feel closer to the both of you. Nick, it has been 13 years since I got to see your goofy smile. I’m all grown up now. I’ll never stop telling the story about how you pulled the trampoline over to the side of the house and tried to jump onto it from the roof with me. Mama heard your footsteps up there and yelled at you so loud I think the whole neighborhood heard! I wish you hadn’t made the dumb decision that you did. You were still so young but you were an adult and you knew better. Mama misses you every single day, and I know I miss you too. Your son is a cool dude, he’s going to be in high school soon! I wish you were here to see how he’s just like you.
Bobby, it’s been 7 years since you left us. And I know it’s a mix of experiencing your death as an adult, instead of a kid, and having been closer to you all those years, but it’s still so much harder for me to think about you, and talk about you, than it is about Nick. You were more complicated, too. We had a weird relationship, you were so much older than me. Your daughter is two years younger than me and since you had her in high school and raised her across the hall from me, she and I are more like siblings than aunt and niece. But you always treated me like your cool little sister, not your child, and in high school I thought you were the coolest dude I knew. I absolutely LOVED the days you’d roll up to school to pick me up in your pimped out white Tahoe, blasting 2pac. Giving me advice on how to be more confident at school, to get people to respect me. I never felt more cool. I also never felt more alone than the day my mom told me you left us in my high school parking lot. And I had to tell your daughter. I have seen her grow into such a strong woman despite what life has thrown at her. We miss you so badly, not a day goes by that you don’t cross our minds. She’s the only one I talk to about you anymore. I think she’s the only one who will ever get it.
I like to think both of you are together, somewhere, playing video games, having rap battles and making mischief like you always used to. I hope the both of you are chillin like villains, wherever you are. I love you both so much, always.

Travis, I miss you

Letters
Hey bud, it’s been a little over 3 1/2 years since you left this world and I can’t help but imagine how my life would be different with you still here. I graduate from Doane in 2 weeks! Aren’t you proud? The last time I saw you was for Doanes homecoming my freshman year.. crazy how time flies that quickly. I promise I haven’t forgotten about all of our memories. I share your story and our laughs all the time to the people who care to hear. I promise I’m doing good. It’s just hard without you here, especially on days I remember walking around Campus with you and Dad. Do you remember going to chilis after the football game? We were fighting about the stupidest things. I told you to call me if you ever needed anything… so why didn’t you? I didn’t want my last hug to be with you on my birthday 🙁 .. the last time I heard your voice… the monody of your voice is slowly fading which scares me.. what if I forget about my little brother? My best friend? I miss you so darn much Travis. Please continue to look over me. I love you so much

Bad days outweigh good days.

Guest Post
My younger brother hung himself 6 weeks ago, he was 58. He had 6 sisters, I was the closest in age to him. I have no siblings close in age now.
I thought I was handling this but now the bad days are more frequent.
He left behind a wife and four boys and I cannot imagine how they are coping.
It seems like my friends just don’t get it or think you should have moved on by now. That is okay as I don’t need them, just sad, sad days.

My Brother

Guest Post
My Brother took his own life by hanging, it will be 5 years on Easter Monday, I miss him so much and think about him every day, he was my only sibling and my best friend, he never got over the tragic deaths of our Mum and Dad and struggled to move on, he was intelligent and had a sense of humour to match, I just feel completely numb alot of the time and feel I’ve been cheated out of the best years of my life with him, I just constantly miss him and feel so low and down.

Life nearly 2 years on

Guest Post
Hey brother,
I often write to you, I have a book specifically for you and letters to you. I often find I wrote to you when I’m feeling overwhelmed with sadness and pain.
I want to speak aloud to you, but I still can’t. The lump that forms in my throat when I try and talk to you is huge and stops my voice, but writing to you is the same really. And I think conversations with you every day too.
The pain of losing you sometimes hits me just as hard as it did when I saw Dad’s name on my phone nearly 2 years ago. Hits me from nowhere and your 2 year old niece often wipes my tears. She’s incredible and you would love her so much. Not just for the little person she’s become, the character, the attitude and sass but for how she continues to be my strength when I don’t have any. And she knows all about you. She thinks your funny. Our house phone rang a few months back and she answered it. When I asked who it was she said it was uncle Jamie, I hope you were there in some way.
It’s now been 2 years since I last saw you, last hugged you. I can still feel that hug, it was different to our normal hugs, harder and tighter because it was the first time I had seen you since she ended your marriage and you were hurting.
I found a charity that has been incredible for me, just having someone to talk to and be completely honest with about my feelings, my anger, my confusion, my guilt, my regrets and every other emotion. Someone who has been through it themselves in some capacity so it’s ok to say some of the awful the things I think.
For the first time last week, I actually sat down with a cuppa during nap time and thought to myself ‘I’ll give J a call in a sec’. I don’t think I’ve ever done that, that hit me like a bus.
My life will never be the same, this hole in my heart will never mend and everything in my life is now referred to as before or after you. But I am so grateful to have had you for your forever.
I always sign off with ‘miss you everyday’ but that doesn’t quite do it really, there’s missing someone and then there’s this that I haven’t yet found a word for. So until I do find a word to describe just how much I miss you, I miss you everyday! Xxxx

Daisy

Guest Post, Letters
My sweet girl,
I miss you. I have no words. I have nothing to say. I just have this heaviness in my heart. I love you. Memories of you keep flooding my head. There are so many things we’ve done together,  so many moments we’ve  shared. The good, the bad, the silly, the crazy. It’s been a year and throughout this year, there’s nobody whom I have shared any such moments with. Nobody knows me like you did. I remember the way you talked,  you walked, the way you were so obsessed with your hair and skin, how you would always have a bottle of water with you to drink, the way you’d always have your cozy night dress on before sleeping,  how you loved animals and they loved you back, how kind, how sweet, how much of a good driver you were, your kind of songs and your love for food, your beautiful hair, skin, your long hands, your well kept nails, how you’d dance, your smile, how you’d raise your hands up when your stomach ached from laughing too much. The thing is Dei, I just miss you so much that I don’t cry anymore. It hurts too much. I want to see you. I will hold on to all the memories I have of you until I see you again.
I’m sorry.