When Music Becomes a Bridge to Healing

The Power of Music in Grief

Music has a way of reaching into places where words can’t go. For those of us who have lost someone to suicide, certain songs become unexpected companions on this journey. They comfort us, they make us cry, and often they do both at once.

Creating John’s Birthday Tribute

A few years ago, as we were approaching the tenth anniversary of his death, I sat down to create a video tribute for our son John’s 27th birthday. The process became its own form of healing work. I spent hours listening to different songs, trying to find the one that would honor his memory. It had taken me years to gather the courage to try to make a memorial video, one that had just the right music and the right images.

The process of reviewing thousands of photos and videos, and trying to decide which ones captured special moments in his life was a huge undertaking. Likewise, song choice was a deeply emotional process, choosing a song that captured the deep sense of loss while also capturing the even deeper love I held for my son. The song I ultimately choose was “See You Again” by Charlie Puth and Wiz Khalifa. It was originally a song written as a memorial following the tragic loss of Paul Walker.

While I explored many music options, one other song left a mark on my heart that I wasn’t expecting. It was deeply moving, the music, the lyrics, the symbolism and the visuals touched my soul.

“Jealous of the Angels”

The song was “Jealous of the Angels” by Jenn Bostic. Every time I listened to it while arranging pictures of John, I found myself in tears. The combination of her haunting melody and the images of my son created something almost too beautiful, too painful to hold. In the end, I decided her original version, complete with her own video, was better left intact. Some works of art are meant to be admired and cherished just as they were created. I just had to leave her story and her vision alone, they were just too perfect for me to touch. Jenn had shared her deeply personal loss and faith and it stood alone in it’s beauty.

Jenn’s Story of Loss

What made this song even more powerful was learning Jenn’s story. She was only ten years old when her father, Jim Bostic, the CEO of NordicTrack, was killed in a car accident while driving Jenn and her brother to school. Fourteen years after that devastating day, she released this song, perfectly capturing what it feels like to lose someone too soon.

The video shows Jenn in scenes many of us know too well. She looks through old photographs of her father, her fingers tracing memories frozen in time. She writes a birthday card to her “Dad,” pouring her heart onto paper in a ritual so many of us understand, addressing words to someone we can no longer hear but always need to reach. In the final scene, she walks through the snow to her father’s grave. It’s a powerful image that speaks to something only we understand: no weather, no obstacle, no season will ever stop us from honoring those we’ve lost. These moments reveal how grief isn’t a single act but a series of small, sacred rituals that keep our loved ones present in our lives.

Good Friday

When I first heard “Jealous of the Angels,” something shifted inside me. The song spoke to feelings I hadn’t found words for yet, it gave me insight to my grief, even ten years into my journey of healing. Our son John passed away on Good Friday, one of the most somber and reflective days in the Christian calendar. The timing added another layer to our grief that felt almost impossibly profound.

Heaven Has a New Angel

The day after John’s death, I posted a simple message on Facebook:

Looking back at those words now, I realize how deeply Jenn’s song title captured what I was feeling. I was jealous of the angels who got to be with my son when I could not.

The Hallelujah Connection

There’s another musical thread that made “Jealous of the Angels” particularly meaningful. Jenn ends her song with a soaring chorus of “Hallelujah.” We had chosen to close John’s funeral service with a Christian rock song called “Another Hallelujah” by Lincoln Brewster. With its powerful guitar riffs and building crescendo, that song gave us the strength to walk out of the church that day. We held onto the belief that John was safely in the hands of his Creator. The connection between Jenn and Lincoln’s songs felt like a message meant just for me.

Grief has some deep chasms that we need help and support to cross. Your music provided me another deeply meaningful bridge to cross on my journey of healing. Thank you Jenn for sharing your inner soul so that our souls can also be healed.

Finding Our Way Forward

As we continue on our individual journeys, I’ve learned that certain songs have a way of meeting us exactly where we are. They become touchstones we return to when we need to feel connected to those we’ve lost, when we need permission to cry, or when we need to remember that even in the darkest valleys, there can still be moments that lift us up.

Music reminds us that our love doesn’t end. It simply changes form. The pain of loss may never fully disappear, but we can find moments of peace, connection, and even hope as we learn to carry our loved ones forward in our hearts. Healing doesn’t mean forgetting. It means finding new ways to honor their memory while gradually learning to embrace life again, one note at a time.

Posts You May Also Find Helpful