Death of a Parent

Lyss – Music

Lyss remembers playing music for her mother as she was dying and how music has helped with feelings

KIm – Planning a funeral in the pandemic

Kim explains the ups and downs of planning a funeral during the pandemic

Amber – Grieving at the age of 17

Amber disucss what it’s like to be a teen when a parent dies

Jessica M – A Parking Lot Memorial

Jessica shares how her family gathered after her uncle died during COVID and how her family came up with a creative way of getting together in a parking lot.

Jeff – “Talking About Grief”

Jeff outlines the story of losing his mother to cancer and the difficulty he experienced when he struggled to acknowledge his grief after her death.

Bryan – Empathy for others

Bryan talks about how losing his father to gun violence was difficult and how taking things day by day helped him get through many difficult times. Now he wants to help children who are going through something similar to what he did. Things will get better and there is always a light at the end of the tunnel

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.

Margaux – “It never really hit me at one moment”

Margaux describes the experience of gradually processing her grief through individual and group therapy. Margaux continues to grieve the death of her mother from breast cancer.

Jessica M – Finding Hope

Jessica shares memories of her brothers birthday which was just before her mothers death and how they all found hope

Jessica M – The value of talking about grief

Jessica talks about living in North America and the fear many people have about talking about grief but that it is very important to talk. It makes us feel less alone and helps us move through our grief. It’s also how you can keep your lost one alive.

Hope – Different lenses

Hope shares about the differences in experiences between losing her father and her Mom losing a spouse

Logan – Songwriting and grief

Logan – Songwriting and grief

Logan explains how a song about his father helped