01 OC Mag 01-24

UNDERSTANDING |
Son
‘Scenes with my
’
TEXT BY RENEE WIELENGA | PHOTOS BY RENEE WIELENGA & SUBMITTED
Robert “Bob” Hubbard
of Orange City is
grateful media outlets
like podcasts, radio stations and
magazines are taking interest in his
book — one Eerdmans Publishing
Co. selected to publish and one that
has all five-star reviews on Amazon
and Goodreads.
“With each speaking engagement
or interview, I always want
to emphasize how grateful I am for
the interest but, of course, I would
give anything not to be here because
I’m only here because something
awful happened,” said Bob,
August “Auggie” Hubbard at 17 years old. His
father, Robert “Bob” Hubbard, wrote a book in
tribute to him following Auggie’s death by suicide
in 2020 after years of dealing with depression.
a 55-year-old theatre professor at
Northwestern College in Orange
City.
After battling clinical depression
for more than five years that
was exacerbated by autism, Bob’s
youngest of three sons, August
“Auggie” Hubbard, died by suicide
at the age of 19 on Oct. 23, 2020.
Three years to the day after Auggie’s
death, Eerdmans released
“Scenes with My Son: Love and
Grief in the Wake of Suicide,” written
by Bob as a tribute to his son.
“I wrote it because I felt called to
celebrate the life of my son and to
let other people know about him,”
Bob said. “I also hope the book is
helpful both to people who have experienced
great loss and difficulty
as well as to those who haven’t but
who would like to understand more
of what it’s like to endure suicide.
“I’m trying to be redemptive, yet
nothing I’m doing comes close to
balancing the pain that Auggie endured
and our family experienced.
Still, I’m trying to tell his story and
feel called to do that in the hopes of
being helpful to others.”
The idea to write the book
emerged about eight months after
6 OC MAGAZINE | SPRING 2024