The Message

Through a Parent’s Tears: Family Stories of Healing is a film project that was created to increase awareness about suicide, prevention, and recovery from suicide loss.

Survivors of Suicide Loss

So many families have endured suicide loss without knowing the why. What could have caused a child or young adult to take their life? How could they have prevented it? The causes are different for every person, but there are recurring themes that usually run through each story. Suicide can be linked to grief, depression, physical or emotional pain, or it can happen by accident. Usually there is a ‘perfect storm’, multiple factors or events that result in the decision to find a permanent end to pain and suffering.

Different Paths Toward Healing

Those who are left behind suffer from loss, grief and feelings of guilt. Desperate to understand reasons behind the death, they seek answers from whatever sources are at hand. But those who are willing to extend the search beyond the typical avenues of counseling and therapy may find the answers in the metaphysical world. Being open to a reality beyond what is perceptible to the senses leads them down a spiritual path.

Their Stories

The premise of this documentary is to look deeply into the journeys of the four families as they describe candidly and emotionally what path their child took that led to suicide. Each family tells a unique story, yet there are common threads that tie all eight suicides together. This is real, it is raw, and it clearly illustrates how communication with a loved one who has passed brings comfort and understanding to their families.

An Evidential Medium

Melinda Vail is featured prominently as the interviewer for each family. An experienced medium, she shares specific, evidential information from their child with each family. The interviews clearly demonstrate that that each child is alive and well on the other side.