Death of a Parent

Mourning a Man I Never Knew

This spring, I turned fifty-four. I have now outlived the father I never knew: my biological father. It’s been almost twenty-three years since we spoke; eighteen years since I learned of his death. I’m still dealing with the strange grief of his loss.

Kim – Facebook and connecting

Kim – discussses our need to connect and how Facebook was useful after her Mum’s death

Mary S – Dogs

Mary talks about how special dogs are and how much they helped her grief

Hope – Not wanting to burden my Mom and siblings

Hope shares how much her Mom had to do after her father died and how they worked out their relationship

Caileigh – Recommendations as a therapist and a griever

Caileigh discussed two recommendations for parents on how to support their child’s grief. as a therapist and a griever. The first is to recognize that being with is far more important than fixing. There’s two pieces to connection. The first being that one of the most important healing aspects to grief is feeling connected to others.

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.

Caileigh – Advice to my younger self about grief

Caileigh talks about things that you can do to balance out feelings that it’s okay to experience all of the big feelings that you have, to find joy in little moments, and to find ways that you can cope with those big feelings.

Bryan – The Three Fs

Bryan talks about the three cornerstones that he lives by …three f’s and how they support him in living a hopeful and positive life

Keith – “My story”

Keith tells his story and why he became a counsellor.

Maureen – “Unresolved conflicts”

Maureen shares about her Dad, anger, love and some tools to manage unresolved conflicts.

Karyn and Aidan – Describing grief during the pandemic

Karyn and Aidan talk about how their grief has changed and the challenges they have faced grieving during a pandemic

Zoreena – My Story

Zoreena talks about COVID and the loss of her father and a cousin