Jess Redden has opened up about her dad’s death, revealing the grief comes in waves and she’s found it incredibly overwhelming at times.
Her dad sadly passed away in September 2020 and Jess admits it still doesn’t feel real.
“He only passed away five months ago so I’m still in denial, yeah,” she told Brian Dowling on his podcast, Death Becomes Him.
“Even still when people say, ‘I’m so sorry to hear about your dad’ I have this concrete wall up and I’m like, ‘I’m fine’.
“So sometimes it is like people say, it’s like the ocean; calm one minute and the next it’s just every cell in your body is just overcome with it.”
Jess admits the toughest part of the whole experience, was watching her dad suffer towards the end of his life.
He spent his final days in St. Vincent’s Private Hospital, but Jess and her family would have loved for him to be able to go home instead.
“Bar how I feel now, that was the worst part of it. Seeing what he had to go through, that was tough,” she said.
“He was just so positive in the face of it all and all he wanted was to get home but with Covid and everything else it wasn’t feasible.
“We kept telling him, ‘Yeah dad, you’re coming home, you’re coming home’ and sadly he never did get to come home.”
Last week Jess marked his first birthday without him, and penned an emotional poem for the occasion.
“I laugh, I smile and then I cry. It comes in waves this broken heart of mine,” she began.
“Without you here to see me grow it knocks me down to a new low.
“But then I wake and feel you by my side, with your angel wings gently pushing me to take the next stride.
“A roundabout of emotion which I’m trying to navigate through, what I would give for five more minutes with you.
“The world is dark without you here but I know you wouldn’t want me to live in fear.
“So I’ll live the bright moments and embrace the sunshine. Happy birthday daddy, I promise we’ll be just fine.”
Our thoughts are with Jess and her family at this difficult time.