Death of A Loved One

Donna B – “Support from the military”

Donna explains how great the military support has been. Donna continues to grieve the death her son during service in Afghanistan.

Bryan – Vulnerability

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

Adrianna – Storytelling… intuitive and instrumental

Adrianna tells how storytelling helped her process her grief

Nicole – Pandemic’s Effect on Grieving as a Community

Nicole discusses the ways the pandemic has affected the way people grieve as a community.

Lyss – Seasonal Reminders

Lyss seasonal reminders and her mother dying at New Years

Cheryl and Mike – “Getting help”

Mike and Cheryl talk about their surviving daughter and getting help. They continue to grieve the death their daughter in a car accident.

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.

Amber -Grieving as a teenager

Amber discusses the challenges of going through grief as a teen

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

Russell – “Relationship”

Russell discusses how loss affects relationships. Russell continues to grieve the perinatal death of his son.

Making Space to Hear Them: supporting children in grief

Children tend to be naturally curious as they grow and learn to navigate the world. As adults, it’s our job to walk with them through that process of learning and to support their curiosity. It can be hard to do that with respect when we are situated in cultures that don’t acknowledge children as autonomous humans worthy of mutual respect. It can be tempting to encourage kids to ignore their feelings about death and grief or to shut down conversations about it when they ask questions. Sometimes, this is because we just don’t know what to say that is developmentally appropriate, especially with young children. Sometimes, it’s because we haven’t allowed ourselves to develop our own thoughts and feelings about death and grief and it feels uncomfortable for us to talk about.

Matt – Adoption and grief

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