Regina King is sharing insights into her experience with grief and reflecting on the legacy of her late son, Ian Alexander Jr.
During a sit-down interview with Robin Roberts, the 53-year-old actress confessed that she still feels guilty.
“When a parent loses a child, you still wonder, ‘What could I have done so that wouldn’t have happened?'” King said.
Ian tragically passed away by suicide in January 2022, shortly after celebrating his 26th birthday. He was King’s only child, whom she had with her ex-husband Ian Alexander Sr., a record producer.
“When it comes to depression, people expect it to look a certain way and they expect it to look heavy,” she added. “To have to experience this and not be able to have the time to just sit with Ian’s choice, which I respect and understand, that he didn’t want to be here anymore. That’s a hard thing for other people to receive because they did not live our experience, did not live Ian’s journey.”
King continued, “I was so angry with God. Why would that weight be given to Ian? Of all of the things that we had gone through with the therapy, with psychiatrists and programs — and Ian was like, ‘I’m tired of talking, Mom.’”
Nevertheless, even two years after her son’s passing, King acknowledges that she continues to grapple with acceptance.
“I’m a different person now than I was on Jan. 19,” she said. “Grief is a journey. I understand that grief is love that has no place to go. I know that it’s important to me to honor Ian in the totality of who he is, speak about him in the present, because he is always with me and the joy and happiness that he gave all of us.”
