Blogger Writes About How She's Coping Without Her Mother on Mother's Day
Ty Alexander wrote she had to "re-imagine the love my mother and I shared."
— -- While many people have already purchased presents or made brunch reservations to celebrate their mother on Sunday, some will find the Mother's Day holiday very tough to endure.
Ty Alexander is one of those people. The Brooklyn-based blogger lost her mother Yolanda Brown in 2013 after she had been diagnosed with stage four lymphoma. Alexander, 39, has been documenting her grieving process on social media and recently opened up on her blog about how she plans to get through Mother's Day.
"Through my grieving process," she wrote, "I realized that I had to re-imagine the love my mother and I had shared."
It's one of the many coping mechanisms Alexander said she will try this Sunday. Another is staying away from social media, she told ABC News.
"Sunday I will not be on the Internet," she said. "I will take a hibernation from social media and just spend time with my family because it can kind of put you in a bad head space because other people can spend time with their mom and you're not."
Alexander added that blogging itself helps.
"I try to journal every day just to get my feelings out," the blogger, who is also writing a book about her grieving experience, said. "But I can also go back and look at the progress that I've made because when it first happened I was like, 'Woe is me, I'll never be right again.' Looking back on it three years later, it's amazing to see ... the progress that I've made."
On her blog, Alexander also shared that she plans to surround herself with family this holiday, more notably her aunt, who she says has become a second mother to her.
"My Aunt Katy has been instrumental in my grieving process, specifically getting past the hurt that I felt on Mother's Day," Alexander wrote. "Through my Aunt Katy, I was able to see the love that I still had here. Because of her love for me, she picked up all those broken pieces from the void of my mother."
Sonya Frazier, a licensed mental health counselor, told ABC News that the coping strategies that Alexander will employ -- such as staying connected to a support circle and writing down positive memories -- can work for those who may find Mother's Day difficult.
She also suggested: "Do something in honor of your late mother to celebrate her life. Don't focus on the loss, but the celebration of life and the impact that she's left on you and the greater community."
Frazier said activities could include donating to a charity that she would support, planting her favorite flower, dining at her favorite place to eat, releasing a balloon in the air or anything "active or symbolic that will represent her."