Healing After Loss
By James Morgan
One of the unfortunate realities of life is that someday we will lose someone we love and experience immense grief. Losing a child is not a reality that I ever imagined, and I pray that no parent ever has to go through that journey. After our son passed away very suddenly and without explanation, my wife, Caitie, and I knew we were not going to let our tragedy define us and take away our joy forever. Grieving is not something that you get over one day, nor do you want to just get over your loved ones. It is a cyclical process with some days (and hours) being better than others. During the immediate trauma phase, Caitie and I asked each other where are you in the cycle, knowing that communication with each other and supporting one another was very important in that time to move forward. As a husband and father, I did feel responsible for getting my family back on track and trying to focus on all of our many blessings. Knowing that we are on this earth for just a short amount of time and trying to focus on what is really important in life—our faith and our families.
After our son passed, Caitie and I were very fortunate to have met several other couples that were a part of this unfortunate fraternity of having lost a child. They provided us a lifeline that no one else could have at the time because we knew they had felt what we were experiencing in that very moment. It gave us hope that one day we could be where they are in life after seeing how they had been able to find joy again. They were all great to touch base with us, sending text messages, phone calls, emails and writing letters, to encourage us that though it was a very dark time it would get better. Having them there to quickly ask questions about what we were experiencing and feeling was such a great resource and we wanted to make that available to everyone. This is what inspired us to create Buddys, which is a free platform to help those that have walked or are walking through life’s challenges. Our hope is that Buddys continues to bless others and provides comfort knowing you are not alone.
In 2017, James and Caitie Morgan unexpectedly lost their one year old son, who James affectionately described as his “little buddy.” Just six years earlier they had lost Caitie’s father, Buddy Parsons, to cancer.
In the wake of these two devastating losses, the Morgans sought various forms of therapy to cope with their grief. One of the things that gave them solace was connecting with another couple who had also lost a young son unexpectedly and without explanation. Finding hope and healing in connecting with others with a similar journey served as a lifeline and encouragement for the Morgans that simply was not possible for them to find in traditional therapy
Driven by a passion to honor the two incredibly important “Buddys” in his life and to give others the same connective opportunity for healing, James dreamed up the idea for a social community that would instantly connect people with similar life journeys who would otherwise have no way to find each other. After the Morgans shared their vision with close friends the Bethays, the two families teamed up to bring the social community to life in the form of a mobile app. Thus, Buddys was created.
The mission of Buddys is to provide a safe and secure mobile network for people to connect and support one another during life challenges. Their hope is that they can provide healing connectivity to millions of people experiencing similar journeys—whether they are next door or across the country—completely free of charge and in a way that meets each person’s unique needs. Users can choose to remain anonymous, join topic specific communities, participate in small group forums, or message one to one privately. All in a way to be heard and be understood.
Buddys directly responds to the reality that everyone is currently dealing or will deal with challenges, struggles, and heartbreak at some point in their lifetime..
