Background Information

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Like millions of other parents, Dr. Kelly Barbour-Conerty was living a normal life, spending time with her daughters, watching them grow up and making plans for their futures. Then, in the blink of an eye, along with the screeching of tires and the crushing of a metal car frame, that normality came to a sudden and horrific end. Her 16 year-old daughter, Lexi, was killed in a car crash only 1 ½ miles from home on the way to a meeting of her church youth group, and Kelly instantly became the newest member of The Grieving Parents Club.

For years, Kelly has lived and struggled with a new normal-one that doesn't include Lexi. Like so many other grieving parents before her, she has grappled with the big questions--Why did this happen to my child? How can I go on without my child? and the small ones-Do I hang a Christmas stocking? What should I do with her things?

Kelly knows first-hand of the darkness that comes with the grief after the death of a child, but with the help of other members of the Club who felt her pain and kindly offered advice at every stage of the grieving process, she has learned how to survive, cope and heal, and how to bring a ray of light, hope, and joy to other grieving parents. 

That is what led her to write The Grieving Parents Club  and to create this resource for other members of the Club. Kelly wrote the book she wished she had when Lexi died; developed the network she wished she had in 2006. There are many books on grieving - often written by well-meaning people who are not members of the Club. There are many groups and organizations that help people who are grieving. All of these are helpful to some parents, but not all. The Grieving Parents Club  is not meant to replace any of these, but rather to add to - to be an additional resource.

Most of all, Kelly wanted other parents to know that they are not alone!