Death of a Parent

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.

The First Fathers’ Day Without Dad

When you lose a person in the generation before you, you begin to think about what they meant to you. When you lose a parent, you think about all they meant, and you hoped you either lived up to the best of yourself, or in some cases where the parenting was not as instructive or kind, you hope you’ve raised yourself beyond difficult circumstances.

Antoinetta – Myth that tragedy brings family together

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

Matt – My Story

Matt tells how he found his birth mother and then lost her.

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.

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.

Katie – Coping strategies

Katie explains her coping strategies

Adam – Advice

Adam shares his advice about losing and remembering a loved one

Collective Grief

When the death of a person affects many members in a community, city, country, or across the world, people will experience collective grief.

These are some things that can help people through the experience of collective grief across a community.

Jessica M – Finding Hope

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

Jeff – “Change”

Jeff reflects on the ebb and flow of grief during the healing process. Jeff continues to grieve the death of his mother.

Antoinetta – Story

Antoinetta tells her story of grief and her father getting lung cancer