Guido Maria Kretschmer speaks openly about his “year of farewells” and what helps him cope with the loss of his parents.
The year 2024 has demanded a lot from “Shopping Queen” presenter Guido Maria Kretschmer (59): It was not until August 2023 that the fashion designer had to say goodbye to his father Erich Kretschmer, who died at the age of 87. Mother Marianne followed in December of the same year at the age of 84. Kretschmer also had to say goodbye to four of his dogs. Kretschmer speaks openly about this “year of farewells” and reflects once again on the traces his parents left behind.
“Almost drove me crazy”
The 59-year-old fashion designer said in an interview that his father’s death was not a surprise, but it was still unexpected. Just a few months after his father’s death, his mother also died: “That was the hardest time in my life for me,” says Kretschmer, who can’t remember anything ever “hitting him so hard.” “The loss of my father almost drove me crazy. When my father died, there was such an emptiness. I had always counted on my father and never expected it, although of course I knew that it would happen somehow.” remembers the designer.
However, he certainly didn’t expect to lose his mother just a few months later. During this time he found it “difficult to work” and “feel joy.”
Memories help in processing grief
What helped the fashion designer in his grief, however, were the memories of his parents and the values they gave him: “I’ve learned to live with it because I now realize that the tools they gave me – even the last days, the last sentences, the words – that remains.” That will help the moderator to continue today. As the fashion designer also remembers, his family was “very physical and full of imagination,” and Kretschmer never had to experience violence or beatings. His father would have raised him, “but he didn’t close any doors for me,” says Guido Maria Kretschmer.
And the fact that he was able to share his grief with friends helped him process it. Because he not only shared “beautiful experiences” with his parents, but also “many friends”: “And that was also a gift that even when my parents died, many, many of my friends were very sad because they were mine too “We had lost parents because they were also there for the others.”
Source: Stern
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
