About Emily Todd
A Bright Light
Emily was born in Portland, Maine and spent the early years of her life living on beautiful Chebeague Island. From a very young age she was thoughtful, creative and a truly bright light. Emily was compassionate, kind and lived her life filled with grace and humility determined to find the good in others every chance she could. Along with all of this, Emily loved her family deeply. She loved spending time together & valued being loved in return by so many. She had respect for all living things and a deep connection to and love for nature as well as the sea. In 2016 she’d received a degree in Expressive Arts Therapy from Lesley University and was working in a local nursing home. In October 2018 Emily had completed a 14 month Shamanic Practitioner Certification program. She was both excited and proud of herself with intentions to continue learning more. She had begun a gentle drumming circle program with the Residents she cared for in the Memory Care Unit.
For 17 years Emily was my only child. In 2010 we were blessed with her brother Sean and she was the best sister in the world. He was everything to her and she to him. Emily was 25, my beautiful daughter and had also become my very best friend. The magnitude of having her taken from us along with dozens of secondary losses are indescribable. I doubt there will ever be a time that l can process how anyone would intentionally step on her foot let alone intentionally end her life.
As Emily’s family, we can ensure that her legacy is one of lasting change by working with others who also believe that we can teach people to embrace compassion for themselves and others as a protective factor which we know can diffuse the disease of intentional violence before it can spread. Emily was a ray of sunshine who lived her life as a vessel of compassion. Celebrating the millions of acts of compassion of Emily’s journey gives us the opportunity to ensure her legacy represents the life she lived. While the hole in our hearts will never go away the love we have for Em oozes from it and definitely has the power to help change the world...thank you for supporting us as we mourn Emily being gone from the earth while working together to turn our anger and pain into invaluable purpose.
Thank you so much for learning about Emily, our family and for being part of our journey.