The mother of a much-loved author whose death by suicide was announced Wednesday spoke of the family’s devastation, adding that they took solace in their faith and the knowledge of the impact it had on their followers.
Heather B. Armstrong, 47, pioneered the “mom blog” in the early 2000s and forged a successful career as an author, recording her own experiences as a mother of two girls and her battles with alcohol and depression.
Armstrong’s death was announced Wednesday by her boyfriend Pete Ashdown, who told The Associated Press that he committed suicide after a recent relapse following 18 months of sobriety.
Armstrong’s mother, Linda Hamilton-Oar, told DailyMail.com they were heartbroken by his death but were comforted by their faith.
“We as a family are devastated, but we have faith that we will see her again,” he said.
Heather Armstrong named ‘Queen of Blogger Moms’ by New York Times Magazine
Linda Hamilton-Oar, whose daughter Heather Armstrong took her own life after a well-documented battle with alcoholism and depression, said she had an innate ability to connect with people.
Armstrong appears at his graduation with his mother Linda and stepfather Rob
When asked why she thought her daughter touched so many people, she said she thought it was because ‘Dooce’, as she was known on her blog, saw those who needed comforting.
“I don’t think she wore her heart on her sleeve,” Hamilton-Oar said.
But he had an incredible gift of discernment.
‘She could see what people needed.’
Hamilton-Oar, an Avon lady who separated from Hamilton’s father, Mike, and remarried Rob Oar, said her daughter had been intuitive since she was a child.
“I had it from a very young age,” he said, about his intuition.
Armstrong leaves behind daughters Leta, 18, and Marlo, 14.
Her heartbreaking latest blog post, published on April 6, spoke about her battle for sobriety and paid tribute to her firstborn daughter.
Armstrong’s mother (right) said her daughter (left) had a gift of intuition from an early age
Armstrong with her daughter Marlo, now 14, and her ex-husband Jon
“Early sobriety is akin to living life like a clam without its shell,” he wrote.
She recounted how, in October 2021, she completed six months of sobriety “alone on the floor next to my bed feeling like a wounded animal that wanted to be left alone to die.”
She described the milestone as “filled with tears and sobs so violent that at one point I thought my body would split in two.”
‘The grief submerged me in tidal waves of pain. For a few hours I found it difficult to breathe,” she wrote.
“I had completely cut myself off from the outside world because I didn’t understand what was happening to me. And I was embarrassed.
“Here, two years into this often frantic and wandering dance with life, I understand that I couldn’t hold anyone’s gaze because everywhere I looked I saw nothing but my own uselessness. So I chose loneliness. I couldn’t bear the thought of anyone else knowing how bad I felt about myself.
She added: ‘Sobriety was not a mystery that I had to solve. It was just looking at all my wounds and learning to live with them.’
His death was announced on his Instagram page.
‘Heather Brooke Hamilton aka Heather B. Armstrong aka Dooce aka the love of my life. July 19, 1975 – May 9, 2023,’ the post read.
“It takes an ocean not to break.”
‘Keep your loved ones close and love everyone else.’
Armstrong’s death was announced on his Instagram page on Wednesday.
In 2016, Armstrong participated in a clinical trial where he was brain-dead three times a week for three weeks in an attempt to cure depression.
Armstrong started his blog, Dooce, in 2001.
The name came from her misspelling the word “friend” in a work email.
In 2009, he had a monthly readership of 8.4 million and was making $40,000 a month from advertising, according to a 2019 Vox profile.
In 2016, after battling suicidal depression and sharing her struggles online, she participated in a clinical trial at the University of Utah.
The three-week trial involved her being induced into minute-long comas three days a week.
The results were promising: six of the ten patients who took part say their mental health improved and continued to improve for three months afterward.
It’s unclear if the treatment was ever brought forward for approval.
He participated in drastic experiments to try to cure his depression, signing up to be brain dead 10 times and later writing about it in the book: The Valedictorian of Death. Her previous books include Dear Daughter and It Sucked Then I Cried.
Armstrong with his children Leta (left) and Marlo (right)
After the trial, Armstrong wrote about it in his book: The Valedictorian of Death.
The experiment used propofol anesthesia to flatten his brain for 15 minutes. She was the third person to try.
In an interview with The New York Post about the treatment, she said she wasn’t afraid it might kill her.
He did this ten times and noticed small changes in his behavior after the initial bouts of nausea.
‘It was after the second treatment that I suddenly realized: ‘Oh, I showered without even thinking.
“After the third treatment… I started combing my hair and wearing cleaner clothes,” she said.
He wrote about the experience in his book The Valedictorian of Death.
Her previous books include Dear Daughter and It Sucked Then I Cried.
