Death of a Parent

Karyn and Aidan – Coping with the COVID restrictions

Karyn and Aidan talk about how they dealt with not being able to visit John in hospital

Antoinetta – Myth that tragedy brings family together

Antoinetta discusses the challenges that her family faced after the death of her father

Holly – Singing in the last days

Holly talks about her partner’s pancreatic cancer diagnosis, the pandemic, their decisions, faith and how singing

Clare – “Talking About Grief”

Clare talks about her experiences with grief. Clare continues to grieve the death of her father.

Hope – Waves of grief

Hope talks about the loss of her father and how grief comes in waves and how a therapist helped her understand that she had pushed her emotions down

Keeping Records

I pulled the photos out of their envelope one at a time, turning over each one to carefully record the date, place, and people in the photo. Sometimes, I included comments. “Apple picking in Hamilton with Pop Pop, Fall, 2023. You loved the wagon ride!”. I slipped each picture into an empty pocket in my son’s photo album.

Shawn – “Dad”

Shawn describes finding out his father died by suicide and the shock and grief that followed. Shawn continues to grieve the death of his father by suicide

Katie – Coping strategies

Katie explains her coping strategies

Lisa – Music and her connection with her father

Lisa talks about the gratitude she has for reconnecting with her father before he died and how much music was a connection for them

Matt – Grief changes

Matt explains how he deals with his grief. Matt continues to grieve the death of his birth mother.

Reflections on Mother’s Day

Mother’s day is a holiday where we show appreciation and care for the maternal roles in our lives. However, this holiday can feel very overwhelming for those of us who are grieving the death of a mother figure, a mother grieving their child, or those of us grieving the loss of not being able to become mothers ourselves.

Kim – Support at the hospital

Kim discusses how tough COVID made the hospital experience and the support she received