Today we’d like to introduce you to Rosanne Groover Norris.

Hi Rosanne, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I wanted to be a writer, all my life. I wrote little plays for my younger siblings. Later, I wrote a few children’s plays that were produced locally. My retirement plan was to write more plays and maybe a novel. However, my focus shifted when in January 2018, my thirty-year-old son, Lee, left this earthly life from an accidental carbon monoxide poisoning, which left me with pain so deep, that I was sure I could not survive it. But despite the agony, I knew, in my heart, Lee didn’t simply vanish into nothing. I could feel a tiny pinpoint of hope and chose to focus on it. I started to read books about the afterlife, near-death experiences, and other related topics. And I had a wonderful grief counselor. But when he passed four months into my journey, I plunged back into despair. Then I was divinely guided to an organization for parents called Helping Parents Heal. This organization focuses on a healing journey rather than staying stuck in the sadness of grief. Additionally, HPH is open to afterlife experiences and even encourages communication with our children. The support and enlightenment I have acquired through this organization have led me to become the writer I was meant to be. In 2020, I wrote a book called “beLEEve” from the numerous journals I kept since Lee passed. The book was written in a journal format for parents to understand the unpredictability of grief to the hope of survival. Since beLEEve, I have written several chapters for anthologies on a variety of related topics. I have found purpose.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Insecurity has been my biggest hurdle in writing. I doubted I was good enough, Who would want to hear what I had to say? What did I have to say that was important enough? But I learned to be open to the guidance I receive from the other side, and to trust it. I have found purpose, which was a gift from my son.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I have become involved in Helping Parents Heal. I am an affiliate leader for a chapter of the organization in my hometown, which meets monthly. Also, I am one of thirty-six volunteer caring listeners for HPH, whom parents can call for support and comfort. In addition to those roles, I am on a team of three whose role is to vet and train new affiliate leaders for Helping Parents Heal.

Helping Parents Heal has nearly 30,o00 members with nearly 200 groups worldwide.

Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I took a risk putting my words out there when I wrote beLEEve. I made myself vunerable, and by doing so, I have helped parents have hope that they too, can survive the loss of a child. I no longer believe in risks, only opportunities. to do better and be better.