The Parent No One Sees Barely Holding It Together
There is a parent in your office right now who was out at 3am looking for their kid. She smiles at the elevator. She hits her targets. Nobody knows what she is carrying. This is for that parent, and for the ones who love her but cannot help her because they don't know. A piece about the invisible weight of raising a struggling teen while showing up for a job, a team, and the rest of a family. Written from lived experience.
The hardest part of losing a child isn't what most people think.
The hardest part of losing a child is not the funeral. It is learning to live with the guilt, unanswered questions, and fear that your child will be forgotten. Chris Coulter shares what grief looks like ten years after losing his daughter Maddie and offers practical ways to support bereaved parents with compassion, presence, and remembrance.
Lived Experience is Not a Consolation Prize
Chris Coulter lost his daughter Maddie in 2015. He is not a therapist or clinician. He is a father who survived the worst thing a parent can face and decided that could not be the whole story. This piece explores why lived experience is a legitimate credential and why it reaches people clinical training sometimes cannot.
The Things That Outlast the Person
When someone you love dies, ordinary objects become something else entirely. A hoodie. A playlist. A card in a drawer. This piece explores what grief does to the things they left behind, why holding on is not the same as being stuck, and how you will know when the time is right to let go.
What Grief Actually Does to a Person
Eleven years after losing his daughter Maddie, Chris Coulter writes honestly about what traumatic grief does to the brain, why the pain does not diminish with time, and what people carrying loss actually need from the people around them. For parents navigating grief, loss, or the weight of a struggling child.
Maddie Died by Suicide 11 Years Ago, Here's What I Want Every Parent to Know
Chris Coulter lost his daughter Maddie to suicide in 2015. Eleven years later, her legacy is saving lives through The MentorWell — a parent support ecosystem built around earlier awareness, real conversations, and the belief that noticing sooner changes everything.
You're Not Alone In This. You Just Haven't Found the Right Room Yet.
A private live parent support community for families with kids ages 8–20. Whether you're already navigating something hard or want to stay ahead of it — When Something Feels Off gives you perspective, community, and a room where you leave feeling lighter than when you arrived. Free with LifeLine Home.
I Spent Nine Years Trying to Get Back to the Person I Was Before I Lost Maddie. Last Year I Finally Stopped.
Chris Coulter lost his daughter Maddie to suicide in 2015. For nine years he tried to recover the person he was before. Then something shifted — and Maddie came back not as a loss, but as a presence. A personal reflection on grief, purpose, and what it means to finally stop looking backward.