Supporting Others

Beauty found at the edges: a portrait of community support

I’d sent a text saying “Hello friends, I’m putting out a call for flowers. I went to public school with Kory, the young man who died in downtown Cobourg this week, and though I hadn’t seen him in recent years, I feel the loss of him on a community level, as I imagine you do, too. Some of Kory’s people are gathering tonight in vigil at the bank where he died, and I’m gathering flowers from those of us who have gardens to share with this grieving community. Do you have some blooms in your garden that you’d be willing to share?”

John Martin – Loss and Grief – Get Your Feeling Out

John discusses the importance of getting your feelings out

Jean – Be good to yourself

Jean shares about support and not being hard on yourself

John Martin – Loss, Grief and Anger

John talks about grief and anger

Caileigh – Wanting to fix a grieving child

Caileigh gives advice about the desire to fix, especially to parents who are grieving themselves as well as supporting children who are grieving.

Adrianna – Pandemic, funerals and celebration of life

Adrianna talks about the death of her friend during pandemic

Michele – Normalizing conversations around death dying grief and loss

Michele discusses grief literacy, the importance of talking and that dying is a part of life

Jacqueline – Advice to Younger Self

Jacqueline talks about seeking help and being kind to yourself

Sarah K – Supporting someone in grief

Sarah gives her thoughts on how many things there are you can domto support someone in grief and how to be proactive

John – What to do now

John talks about the time after the initial period of grief

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.

Matt – Telling my young son

Matt describes the death of his birth mother to his young son.