On March 13th, Michael Traupman’s life changed forever when his wife, Sarah, a pediatric intensive care nurse, passed away unexpectedly at the age of 35. Michael is now left alone to raise his two young kids – daughter, 3, and son, almost 2. He never thought he’d be a single father but when he turned to the support of “Life of Dad,” he realized he wasn’t alone.
“A mutual friend who’s wife had passed away after child birth last August told me about ‘Life of Dad’ about a month ago. There is a lot of stuff on there that made me chuckle and I’ll go online a few times a week to see what’s going on with the other dads.”
Mother’s Day marked the two month anniversary of Sarah’s untimely death and when Michael posted a tattoo tribute on “Life of Dad’s” Facebook page, the unexpected response was overwhelming. Since Friday, the photo has garnered over 11,000 “likes” and almost 300 comments.
“I honestly just posted it to post it. I know there are other dads that are single or divorced or their wives have passed away. I thought it was a loving tribute to my kids and my wife and I just wanted to share it with others. I had no idea that it was going to go the way that it did. I’ve taken time to read all the comments and the outpouring of support that I’ve gotten from other dads on that page has just been amazing.”
Michael and Sarah actually had plans to get a tattoo together. He always wanted a crucifix and banners for his kids and Sarah had been planning on getting one of a breast cancer ribbon to honor her mom. But when Sarah passed, Michael’s plans changed – As a tribute to his late wife, Michael incorporated a stethoscope in the shape of the awareness ribbon. It’s not only in Sarah’s favorite color (orange) but it includes her initials as well. If you got inspired and want to get some tattoos as well for your own reason but don’t want it to be permanent, you can opt for some henna tattoos instead. If you’re wondering, here’s how long henna lasts.
Although Michael is still waiting for answers about Sarah’s passing, he’s trying to get accustomed to the new normal and support his children.
“My son is too young to understand (that his mom died) but I show them pictures of Sarah daily. They know it’s mommy…One night, my daughter randomly started singing a song that my wife would always sing. I was making them dinner and I just turned to her and smiled and then broke down. I felt that it was the right time to tell her where Mommy really was. My daughter will say, ‘Mommy is in heaven,’ and she knows if she wants to see her, she can look at the sky. She’s already done that a few times. She’ll look up and say, ‘Hi Mommy, I love you.’ I think she knows her mom isn’t’ coming around anymore but she doesn’t really know what heaven is. We’re all slowly getting used to it.”
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