Regina King copes ‘minute by minute’ since her son’s death

Regina King finds herself navigating life “minute by minute” since the passing of her son, Ian Alexander Jr, who tragically took his own life in January 2022 at the age of 26. Despite the overwhelming “physical absence”, she shares that over two years later, she feels a profound and “spiritual” connection with him. King also explained the importance of confiding in fellow mothers, as it has been instrumental in her journey of healing and coping with the loss.

She told Harper’s Bazaar, “If I was [asked], ‘Do you want to do this again, but it’s going to be exactly the same?’ I would say yeah, just because of how much Ian gives me. But right now, it is me trying to better understand this new relationship with Ian that the universe has chosen. We always talk about spirit...They’re always with us in spirit. But his physical absence is so loud that it’s hard to sometimes tap into that spiritual connection,” she said.

“One of the things I’ve learned on this journey is that gratitude and sadness are not mutually exclusive; they’re always working at the same time. I just have to navigate this. Sometimes it’s minute by minute. I’m aware when I talk to other mothers – and I hate that we share this because I feel like I don’t want anyone to share this, but because we do share it– they have just taught me so much,” King added.

The Oscar-winning star explained that even though it could be “really easy” to hide away, she has instead found comfort in confiding in other mothers.

She said, “Having those women in my life reminding me of the importance of not isolating – because it’s really easy to isolate, especially when the majority of people in the world have no idea whatsoever of this level of grief but talking to women who are like [because] it’s not going to go away. At least I know that ... One thing that I feel– like every mother that I talk to feels–is that no one could have prepared me for this. No one told me this part. There’s something about them, 11 years, 12 years later and the grief is still there. I read somewhere that grief is love with no place to go, and I was like, ‘Huh … yeah ... that does sum it up in some way,” she shared.