Death of a Parent

Finding Joy During the Holidays After Loss When Everything Feels Awful: A message of hope.

My mother died in the middle of the night on January 1, four days before I turned sixteen. I don’t remember much about Christmas the couple weeks before she died, just that we spent a lot of that season in the ICU of the hospital where my mother had birthed my brother and I. For…

Kim – Some cry some don’t

Kim discusses how tough COVID made the hospital experience and the support she received

Lyss – Support, Family, and Friends

Lyss discusses the long process of her mother dying, miscarriages and support from family and friends

The First Fathers’ Day Without Dad

When you lose a person in the generation before you, you begin to think about what they meant to you. When you lose a parent, you think about all they meant, and you hoped you either lived up to the best of yourself, or in some cases where the parenting was not as instructive or kind, you hope you’ve raised yourself beyond difficult circumstances.

Amber – Keeping Dad’s memory alive

Amber tells how she set up a Dad adventure day to keep the memory of her father alive for her kids and husband

Bryan – My Story

Bryan talks about his father being a lawyer and being shot and killed by an apposing lawyer. He talks about his mother and brother and how they have coped

Zoreena – Burnout and counseling

Zoreena talks about her father’s decline in a nursing home during COVID

Craig – There is No Right Way to Grieve

Craig talks about his experience with grief and how there is no right or wrong way to grieve. He shares his thoughts on how to allow yourself to do what you need to do to heal, even if it doesn’t seem like “self-care.” This video is a reminder that everyone grieves differently and that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to healing.

Amber – My Story

Amber talks about the traumatic death of her father in an explosion and being 17

Bryan – Vulnerability

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

Hope – Going back to school

Hope talks about the shift she felt when she went back to school after her father’s death.

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