Supporting Others

Tips for Grieving During the Holidays

The holidays can bring up a lot of feelings, especially when you’re grieving the loss of a loved one. Whether it’s the first holiday season without someone, the holidays mark a time where someone you love died, or it’s just hard to be around celebration when you’re not feeling celebratory, December can feel heavy.

These are a few tips for grieving during the holidays.

Kate – Advice to my younger self

Kate explains things being authentic and honest to herself has been very valuable

Michele – Covid and support

Michele defines expressive arts and how they can help healing in griefMIchele talks about COVID restrictions, technology and ways to support

John Martin – First You Must Realize What Has Happened

John talks about realizing the reality of grief

Cara – Intellectual disabilities and advance planning

Cara explains that people living with intellectual disabilities are growing to older ages, much like the rest of the population. And as folks are aging what we’re seeing is the need for families more so than ever, to do some advanced planning for who will take over any caregiving decision making or where that person may live, what sort of support they may need and what that’s going to look like after the parents or the guardians die so that this doesn’t become a crisis situation.

Ghosts From The Past

I met Holly riding the bus in our community. She is very attractive with a winsome smile and piercing eyes that I would trade anything for. She was also the bus driver. At that time Holly went to school to become a nurse. After becoming a nurse, Holly didn’t drive the bus that much, but one of her fellow bus drivers mentioned to me that one of Holly’s patients had died and it had a negative impact on her. It brought back ghosts from my past as I also had a job in which people died which had a negative impact on me.

John – What to do now

John talks about the time after the initial period of grief

Shannon – Blessings and sadness

Shannon discusses how just showing up, being present is a powerful way of supporting to someone who has lost. Listen more – talk less.

Amanda – “Ministry of Presence”

Amanda discusses how being present with someone can be helpful.

Betsy – You can’t know until you know

Betsy talks about support and what really helps when one is in grief

Karyn and Aidan – Supporting each other

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

Michele – Covid and virtual support

MIchele discuss support and how COVID has affected our grief in so many waysort