WARNER ROBINS, Ga. – No one can really be prepared to process grief, and some say it can be especially difficult for children.
Nearly six years after her husband was shot and killed, Tracie Huff is now an author and writes books to help children process grief.
“I was awakened by my sleep, I did not know what was happening. I saw police cars, ambulances, fire trucks. All the lights were flashing in my house,” she read from her book.
Tracie Huff says it happened on the day of her son’s second birthday party. Her husband was shot just outside their apartment.
“He was kept up in the yard and someone tried to rob him while me and the kids were sleeping in the house and he later died in the hospital,” she said.
As the case turns six, Huff has now written a book from his children’s point of view to help others deal with grief.
“Kids really need support – like I said, I didn’t realize how much before I had my own experience with my own kids, but they do need resources,” she said.
Her book is a resource she called “The Day My Father Went to Heaven,” which even provides children with interactive worksheets to process their emotions.
“It’s about how my sons handle it, how their faith and their family have helped them get through a lot of hard days,” she explained.
As Warner Robin’s police now reopen the cold case just before her book signing, she says it opens an old wound.
“The closer it gets, the bittersweet it is. Like I said, with the event on the way and the case reopening, it has been an emotional journey to write this, but I finally needed to do it,” she said.
Huff says this book is the first of three she is working on.