The mother of a popular author, whose death by suicide was announced on Wednesday, opened up about the devastation to the family, adding that she takes comfort in her faith and the knowledge of her influence on her fans.
Heather B. Armstrong, 47, pioneered the “mommy blog” in the early 2000s and went on to have a successful writing career, chronicling her own experiences as a mother of two girls and her struggles with alcohol and depression.
Armstrong’s death was announced on Wednesday by her boyfriend Pete Ashdown, who told The Associated Press she died by suicide after recently relapsing after 18 months of sobriety.
Armstrong’s mother, Linda Hamilton-Oar, told that she was shocked by her death but took comfort in her faith.
“We as a family are devastated but we have faith that we will see them again,” she said.
Heather Armstrong has been dubbed the “Queen of Mommy Bloggers” by The New York Times magazine
Linda Hamilton-Oar, whose daughter Heather Armstrong committed suicide after a well-documented battle with alcoholism and depression, said she had an innate ability to connect with people
Armstrong is pictured at her graduation ceremony with her mother, Linda, and stepfather, Rob
When asked why she thinks her daughter touched so many people, she said it was because “Dooce,” as she was called on her blog, saw those who needed comfort.
“I don’t think she wore her heart on her sleeve,” Hamilton-Oar said.
“But she had incredible judgment.”
“She could see what people needed.”
Hamilton-Oar, an Avon lady who split from Hamilton’s father Mike and remarried Rob Oar, said her daughter had been intuitive since childhood.
“She had it from a young age,” she said of her intuition.
Armstrong is survived by daughters Leta (18) and Marlo (14).
Her heartbreaking latest blog post, published on April 6, was about her battle with sobriety and a tribute to her firstborn daughter.
Armstrong’s mother (right) said her daughter (left) was gifted with intuition from a young age
Armstrong with her daughter Marlo, now 14, and her ex-husband Jon
“Early sobriety is like living like a shellless clam,” she wrote.
She shared how she was sober for six months in October 2021 and “lay alone on the floor by my bed and felt like I was a wounded animal that wanted to be left alone to die.”
She described the milestone as “brimming with tears and sobbing so hard I thought my body would split in two.”
“Sorrow washed over me with tidal waves of pain.” “I found it hard to breathe for a few hours,” she wrote.
“I had completely isolated myself from the outside world because I didn’t understand what was happening to me. And I was embarrassed.
“Here, two years into that often frantic and wandering dance with life, I understand that I couldn’t take anyone’s gaze because everywhere I looked I saw nothing but my own worthlessness.” And so I decided to loneliness. “I couldn’t face the thought of anyone else knowing how bad I was.”
She added, “Sobriety wasn’t a mystery for me to solve. It was just looking at all of my wounds and learning to live with them.”
Her death was announced on her Instagram page.
“Heather Brooke Hamilton aka Heather B. Armstrong aka Dooce aka the love of my life.” July 1975 – May 9, 2023,” the post read.
‘”It takes an ocean not to break”.
“Hold on to your loved ones and love everyone else.”
Armstrong’s death was announced on her Instagram page on Wednesday
In 2016, Armstrong took part in a clinical trial in which she was brain dead three times a week for three weeks to cure depression
Armstrong started her blog Dooce in 2001.
The name came about because she mistyped the word “dude” in a business email.
According to a 2019 Vox profile, she had a monthly readership of 8.4 million in 2009 and was making $40,000 a month from banner ads.
In 2016, after battling suicidal depression and sharing her struggles online, she entered a clinical trial at the University of Utah.
The three-week process involved putting her in a minute-long coma three days a week.
The results were promising – six of the 10 patients who took part said that their mental health had improved and that they continued to feel better for three months.
It’s unclear if the treatment was ever submitted for approval.
She participated in drastic experiments to cure her depression. She signed up for brain death ten times and wrote about it in the book The Valedictorian of Death. Her previous books include Dear Daughter and It Sucked Then I Cried.
Armstrong with her children Leta (left) and Marlo (right)
After the trial, Armstrong wrote about it in her book, The Valedictorian of Death.
In the experiment, her brain was numbed with propofol anesthesia for 15 minutes. She was the third person to try.
In an interview with the New York Post about the treatment, she said she was not at all afraid of dying.
She did it ten times and, after initial bouts of nausea, noticed small changes in her behavior.
“After the second treatment I suddenly realized, ‘Oh, I took a shower without even thinking about it.’
“After the third treatment … I started styling my hair and wearing cleaner clothes,” she said.
She wrote about this experience in her book The Valedictorian of Death.
Her previous books include Dear Daughter and It Sucked Then I Cried.