Blog Post

Practical Possibilities for Mourning in a Pandemic

January 20, 2021

Post by Maureen Pollard, MSW, RSW Practical Possibilities for Mourning in a Pandemic When someone we care about dies, we have a natural reaction of grief. During a pandemic, many restrictions and precautions we are living with to help prevent the spread of virus can interfere with the ways we are used to coping with the experience…

Blog Post

Holding Space for The Many Faces of Grief on Father’s Day

June 15, 2024

A lot of blog posts and articles about grief and special days tend to focus on how to navigate these moments when our loved one has died. Often these articles of grief also talk about the ways we have deeply loved or cared for the person who has died. Grief is a natural response to…

Blog Post / I Am A Griever

Things That Helped When My Dog Was Dying

August 28, 2024

I lived with a dog named Althea, who belonged to my roommate, during my undergrad. Every year, my partner, our roommate, and I would go to a summer solstice festival. The year Althea was pregnant, my roommate brought her to the festival. The first night there, he retired to his tent to nap in preparation…

Blog Post / pet loss

Ghosts From The Past

September 7, 2023

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.

Blog Post / Supporting Others

Thoughts on International Overdose Awareness Day 2023

August 30, 2023

We lead multifaceted lives, and the deaths of those we love who have died by drug poisoning contain multitudes. The death of a loved one can bring intense grief, shock, anger, shame, or guilt. People who use drugs, and those who love them that they leave behind, face stigma in North America’s dominant, settler culture.

Bereavement Professionals' Insights / Blog Post / Collective/Community Grief / Death By Overdose / Drug Poisoning and the Pandemic

Weaving the Tapestry of Love

June 12, 2025

Learning to become a better person is a wonderful consequence of being in a loving relationship with someone; you’re present in ways that help them grow into their best self. It’s an organic process you flow with on a journey we map out with intention, though in reality, it remains unknowable. That is why a…

Bereavement Professionals' Insights / Blog Post / Death of A Loved One / Death of a Parent / Death of a Partner / I Am A Griever

Thinking About Death and Dying

May 1, 2020

Post by Maureen Pollard, MSW, RSW Though everyone eventually dies, it can be difficult to think about death and dying and many of us avoid it as we go about our every day lives. During the pandemic, as communities all over the world cope with the spread of covid-19, death may be much more present in your…

Blog Post

When Death Feels like a Thief

August 24, 2022

In the heart of my grief, at my frailest, all I could see was what was no more. I grieved all that was stolen from me by death; love, security and even my very self. Had I known the value of having every pocket of who I was, picked bare by grief, I would not have fought so hard to hold onto it all.

Blog Post / Death and Grief During a Pandemic / Death By Overdose / Death During Service / Death of A Loved One / Grief and Trauma / I Am A Griever / Living with Dying / Perinatal / Suicide

Keeping Records

November 17, 2023

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.

Blog Post / Death of A Loved One / Death of a Parent / I Am A Griever

Once a Daughter, Always a Daughter

March 3, 2021

Mary E. Schulz is a Social Worker and writer who loves dogs, opera and stories that take her breath away. We all have roles in our life. For me, I have been a wife, best friend, health care professional and daughter. All of these roles have brought me joy and some heart ache and I…

Blog Post

Living in the Aftermath of Traumatic Death

May 20, 2020

The sudden unexpected, traumatic death of a loved one is something like having a limb torn off.

Shocking. As if the air has been sucked from your lungs and you can’t manage another breath.

Blog Post / Grief and Trauma

Enfranchising Grief: Grief Stories Releases Children’s Grief and Loss Toolkit for Individuals, Parents, and Caregivers

September 8, 2025

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Enfranchising Grief: Grief Stories Releases Children’s Grief and Loss Toolkit for Individuals, Parents, and Caregivers Contact: Jessica Milette, Executive Director Cell Phone: 416-569-2415 Email: jessica@griefstories.org Website: www.griefstories.org Grief is a natural experience, and is considered one of the most stressful life events a person can experience. 1 in 14 children under the age…

Blog Post / News & Events