That First Year

Family relationships can be complicated, even during the best of times. And under the worst, amid loss, as family dynamics change, those relationships also change. Old relationships can be comfortable to fall back into, or they can feel oppressive and claustrophobic. Childhood memories revisited from an adult perspective offer different, and often humorous, glimpses into the past, and can help form new relationships with a deeper understanding.

Elyse Laramie created a happy, loving home for herself and her three children—Claire, Kade, and Kelsey—who now, as adults, are successful and living independent lives away from home. But it isn’t the life she’d planned on when, at 18, she discovered she was pregnant, and she married the only man she’d ever been with.

Tim Laramie was a career-focused and single-minded man who, at his own admission, was never really a part of the family. Their marriage was not what either of them wanted it to be, but it wasn’t something that either of them wanted to end either. Elyse had always secretly hoped the future would bring about a change that would rekindle that spark between them and renew what had become a platonic relationship.

Until a terrible accident changes everything.

In the aftermath, four adults pull together to grieve, personally and collectively, and redefine their relationships within the family. Will they be able to confront, resolve, and forgive old injustices and misconceptions as other aspects of their lives bring them new roles, new relationships, and new challenges they must also face?

Grief experts advise someone coping with the recent loss of their loved one to make no major life decisions or changes during that first year.

That First Year is a story of love, loss, family, and resiliency—with hope, tears, and laughter.