The wife of fallen Hatboro Police Department Office Ryan Whitney celebrated Mother’s Day last weekend with her two children.
Despite not knowing what her future would hold after the passing of her husband and father to her children, Ryan, Whitney has persevered over the course of the last three years since tragedy struck her family in 2021.
Now, she’s hoping to help others that are in a similar situation.
Officer Allen tragically passed away in April of 2022, several months after he was stung by a bee, causing a severe medical reaction resulting in cardiac arrest.
Whitney took to Tik Tok on Mother's Day to show a flashback of what her first Mother’s Day was like as a widow.
“The first Mother's Day after my husband, Ryan's, death, my 4-year-old said ‘it's just the 3 of us mama 💔.’” It hit me like a ton of bricks that I was my children's everything and it was never supposed to be that way. I was overwhelmed with gratitude that I had two little people to live for when I lacked my own sense of identity and purpose. My babies were my two reasons to keep going. To keep faith that life would get better. They were my reason to laugh and smile when everything felt heavy. They were my light.
“And yet, I remember how terrified I was. How sometimes I was paralyzed by how overwhelming parenting while grieving felt. That sometimes all I wanted to do was disappear and I couldn't. I was constantly oscillating between feeling like my children were my only reason for living and also just feeling so drained by the immense responsibility of being my children's everything.
"There is no playbook for being a parent, let alone a single parent after tragedy strikes. We do the best we can on a daily basis, and even if you think it’s not good enough, all you can do is keep your head down and persevere.
“Parenthood is both the hardest and most fulfilling job in the world,” she wrote. “I love being a mother and this journey has sometimes felt beyond what I was capable of.
“But the 3 of us made it together. We grew, learned, and loved through it all. And we are so lucky that it isn't *just* the 3 of us anymore.
“So Happy Mother's Day to the moms that are in the trenches right now. Happy Mother's Day to the mothers that are grieving seasons they lost in survival mode. Happy Mother's Day to the mothers that are transitioning out of just surviving. You're all superhero's. You're doing amazing no matter what season you're in.”
