Professor Maggie McGonigle

For my People

While I lack professional photos, I do have this one of me dressed as Professor McGonigle on Halloween. I am actually a teacher by trade, and ever since Maggie Smith played Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter movies, I have operated under the belief that she and I are soulmates. Unfortunately, my letter from Hogwarts seems to have gotten lost, and my life went down a different path.

My first career was in teaching English as a Second Language. While I’m currently sticking with the great benefits and awesome coworkers I’ve got working in the office of a construction company, I still get my fix for education through tutoring. I absolutely love fumbling through this fascinating language with students from all over the world. Words are magic, you see, and they’ve gotten me through some of the worst of times, especially suicide widowhood.

I am a suicide widow, meaning I used to be married, but then my husband killed himself. It’s been a doozy, and I’ve got a lot to say about it, often even when I have zero desire to remember that this unfortunate thing happened in my life. Alas, talking about it helps.

Sharing my experience with others has been both cathartic and fulfilling. Connecting with fellow widowed folks and survivors of suicide loss, however morbid that may be, has become one of the greatest comforts in my life. In the early days of my loss, it was not in the platitudes of the well-intended non-grievers that I found comfort, but in the posts and blogs of others like myself. Their words provided validation, solace, and even a good laugh at times. I pass this on to my fellow grievers in the hopes that you are able to find meaning in my words and that they fill the voids you’ve not yet been able to express in language.

In addition, in 2023 I completed the Master of Suicidology program at Griffith University, where I combined my lived experience with an academic foundation in all things related to suicide. Specifically, I researched the lived experience of suicide grief in veterans. More news to come on that as I work to get my study published.

*Disclaimer: I am not a clinician, nor do I hold any superhuman ability to prevent suicides. Suicides remain unpredictable, but they are often preventable. I’m happy to share information to support anyone in a suicidal crisis, or those who love someone in a suicidal crisis.

That said, I am well versed in much of what has been studied about suicide. I’m an excellent resource for those bereaved by suicide or widowed by other circumstances because I get it. It’s a freaking shitstorm at times, and it sucks. Sorry, it’s never going away. But things do shift, and there is comfort in knowing that others understand the unfathomable enormity of such a loss. I’m happy to be of support to my fellow grievers.

The best route I’ve found to fulfilling my passion to support others in grief is writing. Books are some of my dearest companions, and the brave words of others have gotten me through some of my hardest days. Let’s face it - sometimes, you just don’t want to talk to someone about what you’re going through, but reading their story might be just the thing to move you towards the next shift. Writing has also become one of my favorite forms of therapy, so this blog is really a win-win in my efforts to be well and leave a positive impact on the world.

My posts may specific to grief and suicide, widowhood and finding happiness again with the love of my life, mental health and challenges, etc. Or, they might not seem to have much of a topic at all, as is often the case with this brain of mine. Whatever they case, it helps me to write them, and I hope it helps you to read them.

Sláinte!