HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. — Every morning you can find Christine Morgan sweating at Rock Box fitness. She says it’s about more than the sweat. 

What You Need To Know

During the holiday season as some families come together, others mourn the loss of family members 

Christine Morgan lost her son five years ago

She says holidays are hard, but she’s using fitness to get physically and mentally strong in order to help others 

“Your mind gets stronger. You feel like you can accomplish more. I’m 60 years old,” Morgan said, 

The gym is her happy place. This is her way to stay healthy and physically fit. 

“I always end every post with #MoreThanTheWeight, because it’s much more than the weight,” she said.“I always end every post with #MoreThanTheWeight, because it’s much more than the weight,” she said.

Morgan says her community, her Rock Box family, is the reason she comes every day, giving her the strength after the hardest experience of her life. 

Five years ago, her son Jason Michael Barter was found dead. 

“He was found in the pump room on the UNCC campus, because some students smelled something while playing football,” Morgan said. 

Five years later she remembers her son's laugh, his humor and his artistry; the loss and grief still present, especially during the holidays. 

“Christmas is hard. All holidays are hard. Every day is hard. Grief has no time,” she said. 

Morgan says after she lost her son, she lost a part of herself. And she’s not alone.

More than 2.8 million Americans die each year, leaving millions of others to mourn their loss. According to the American Psychological Association, "holidays amplify feelings of loss, especially in the first holiday season since the loss."

But in her grief, she decided to help others, donating toiletries to those in need. 

“I want to ‘not allow’ like he says in his words ‘another one down and wasted,’” she said.  

But Morgan says she couldn’t help others in the mental, physical and emotional place she was in before. 

“I had been doing nothing positive for myself, and it was not sustainable. I was just wasting away to nothing,” she said. 

So, in order to serve the community, donate products and help others — all things she’s doing now — she had to start with helping herself.