A personal reflection on how I used ChatGPT this week to help me through loss of my mother

One of the most meaningful lessons I took away from the AI Advantage Summit came from Sabrina Romanov. She taught us that we can give AI a role to play, so it can support us when we need it. I was able to use this technique yesterday for clarity and grounding.

I want to share a very personal experience. I admit am writing this with tears in my eyes.

My mom passed away on June 25. I cared for her for two intense years and supported her for more than twenty eight years. When I was nineteen and serving in the Navy, she had a mental health emergency. I stepped up and she became my official Navy dependent and she stayed with me all the way until June of this year.

I wish I had AI tools like this during some of those years. We had many challenges. Love and grit carried us through.

Yesterday I received my mom’s ashes from the Walter Reed medical center mortuary affairs specialist. My mom is mother of two veterans (including myself) and she chose to donate her body to the military medical hospital here in Washington DC. I learned yesterday that 417 military doctors, nurses, and medical professionals were able to learn from her anatomy. That final act of service was incredibly powerful.

Holding the small box of her ashes made everything real. I needed time to grieve and reset before picking my 5 year daughter up from school.

I remembered Sabrina’s guidance about assigning a role to the AI so it can respond with the tone we need. I typed into ChatGPT that I needed calm support while processing grief.

What I received was steady, compassionate guidance that helped me take the next breath and steady myself. It did not remove the pain, but it helped me slow down and process what I was feeling. It also helped me think through gentle ways to talk about my mom’s passing with my daughter who is still trying to understand everything.

I am sharing this because the summit opened my eyes to the different ways we can use AI tools in our daily lives. Sometimes we use them for productivity. Sometimes we use them for business planning. Yesterday I got the help I needed immediately to help me reset and it was a very needed moment.

Of course it doesn’t replace a therapist or a medical professional, but it did absolutely provide me a moment of clarity and grounding, and I really needed it.

I hope this is helpful to someone who needs it.

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