Death of a Parent

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.

Zoreena – Support systems

Zoreena explains the importance of support systems

Jackie – Expressive arts can help when grief is confusing

Jackie talks about how working with an artist therapist helped her after her sister and mother died

Matt – Adoption and grief

Matt talks about how adoption and grief have similarities. Matt continues to grieve the death of his birth mother.

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.

Zoreena – Passing on kindness

Zoreena talks about wakes, funerals, COVID and the importance of kindness

Hope – Benefits of child-centred grief programs

Hope discusses hope grief camp gave her and her family a place to feel normal

Jessica’s Reflections as an Adult Grieving Child

Parents or trusted adults are people children often turn to for support, but my circle of trusted adults was shrinking. My peers were focused on what to wear on civvies day (a day where we didn’t have to wear a uniform), while I was focused on just surviving.

Holly – Singing in the last days

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

Bryan – Vulnerability

Bryan talks about things are not always OK and that’s OK and things are going to get better

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.

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