Death of a Parent

Katie – Coping strategies

Katie explains her coping strategies

Karyn and Aidan – Supporting each other

Karyn and Aidan talk about how they supported each other and how they coped with John being hospitalized

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.

Hope – Not wanting to burden my Mom and siblings

Hope shares how much her Mom had to do after her father died and how they worked out their relationship

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.

Caileigh – My own grief and supporting others

Caileigh tells about her own grief and now it has given her a really powerful lens on how to support children going through grief as well. Along with her professional education and training, there is now a different perspective on grief and how that fits in with supporting others.

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.

Cheryl and Mike – “Their Story”

Cheryl and Mike discuss losing more than one family member. They continue to grieve Cheryl’s father and the death their daughter in a car accident.

Karyn and Aidan – Planning a celebration of life during COVID

Karyn and Aidan discuss creating a celebrating of life during the pandemic

Matt – Telling my young son

Matt describes the death of his birth mother to his young son.

Bryan – The Three Fs

Bryan talks about the three cornerstones that he lives by …three f’s and how they support him in living a hopeful and positive life

Hope – Going back to school

Hope talks about the shift she felt when she went back to school after her father’s death.