Mournful Father Urges Parents To Put Family Life Before Their Jobs After Son Passes Away In His Sleep

Sep 13, 2019 by apost team

A father from Oregon learned in the most painful way possible what matters most in life. J.R. Storment has led a life of dedication to his tech company, Cloudability. J.R. founded Cloudability in 2011 and says that he hasn’t taken more than a week of vacation since. 2011 was also the year that J.R. had his twin boys, Wiley and Oliver, with his wife, Dr. Jessica Brandes.

J.R. and Jessica just recently experienced a monumental tragedy when Wiley died in his sleep due to complications from childhood epilepsy.

Writing about his loss on LinkedIn, J.R. said that the day Wiley died, he didn’t even say goodbye to his family before heading off to work. Completing two work-related calls during his commute, J.R. was just arriving at his office when Jessica called with three simple words: “Wiley is dead.”

Racing home, J.R. was shocked to see lines of police cars and other emergency vehicles in his neighborhood. J.R. had to wait almost three hours for the authorities to finish their investigation before he could see his son.

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Walking into the twins’ room, J.R. saw Wiley’s body. The workaholic dad would later remark that his little boy looked like he was asleep. Lying down on the bed, J.R. broke down. Holding Wiley's hand the aggrieved father kept asking, “What happened, buddy? What happened?” J.R. held Wiley’s hand and touched his forehead as coroners wheeled him out of their home.

In the weeks following Wiley’s death, J.R. hasn’t stepped foot in the office. While contemplating leaving work altogether, J.R. quotes Kahil Gibran who said, “Work is love made visible,” knowing that eventually, he will feel up to returning to his occupation. Nevertheless, J.R. will balance his life, saying that his family is his greatest achievement and his work life is his greatest regret.

The wise father says that the most heartbreaking part of Wiley’s passing is that his son will never achieve his dreams. Even from an early age, Wiley wanted to own his own business. Like any child, that business encompassed a rainbow of fun ideas, from making smoothies to manufacturing spaceships.

J.R. closed out his now viral LinkedIn post with advice for parents. J.R. says that the most important thing a working parent can do is find ways to spend more time with their kids. For J.R., time is the most important resource. "If there’s any lesson to take away from this, it’s to remind others (and myself) not to miss out on the things that matter," J.R. wrote. 

What do you think of J.R.’s post? How do you balance your work life and your family life? Tell us below. Send this article to your friends and family.