Death of a Parent

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.

Amber – Grieving at the age of 17

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

Hope – Different lenses

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

Karyn and Aidan – Planning a celebration of life during COVID

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

Creating Mother’s Day Traditions as a member of the Dead Mom Club

About a week after Easter this year, I noticed I was starting to feel off. My sleep wasn’t as restful, experiencing tension in my body, at times I was getting irritated with the simplest things. Then while streaming an episode of television, 4 ads back to back all talking about Mother’s Day. Then came the…

Karyn and Aidan – Our story

Karyn and Aidan – Karyn tells the story leading up to John’s death during the pandemic

Jackie – Finger painting and grief

Jackie discusses how finger painting help her with her feelings while she was grieving the loss of her mother and sister

Learning from Grief

Grief is weird. Odd start, I know, but that was the sentence I used a lot whenever someone asked me how I was. It was never a constant feeling; it changed day to day. And still does. It’s the full gambit of emotions from sadness to anger to guilt and, though dark, even humour found its way in.

Karyn and Cathy – “Suicide”

Karyn and Cathy discuss how the stigma of suicide impacted the lack of acknowledgement of their grief and loss. Karyn and Cathy continues to grieve the death of their father by suicide.

Karyn and Aidan – Grief changes

Karyn and Aidan talk about how grief changes, coping, strength, crying, talking, comfort and support

Margaux – “Find People in Similar Situations”

Margaux talks about group therapy and writing as tools for processing grief. Margaux continues to grieve the death of her mother from breast cancer.

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.