Death of a Parent

Keeping Records

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.

Matt – Music helped my grief

Matt discusses how creativity and music help his grief. Matt continues to grieve the death of his birth mother.

Sam – How grief changes

Sam who lost his father, uncle and cousin talks about time and grief

Reflections on Mother’s Day

Mother’s day is a holiday where we show appreciation and care for the maternal roles in our lives. However, this holiday can feel very overwhelming for those of us who are grieving the death of a mother figure, a mother grieving their child, or those of us grieving the loss of not being able to become mothers ourselves.

Matt – Wisdom to pass on

Matt offers advice to his younger self about grief. Matt continues to grieve the death of his birth mother.

Hope – Benefits of child-centred grief programs

Hope discusses hope grief camp gave her and her family a place to feel normal

Zoreena – Burnout and counseling

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

Cheryl and Mike – “Grieving more than one person”

Mike and Cheryl discuss how it gets complicated with multiple losses. They continue to grieve Cheryl’s father and the death their daughter in a car accident.

Matt – Crying

Matt talks about men and crying. Matt continues to grieve the death of his birth mother.

Margaux – “My Grief Story”

Margaux outlines the story of losing her mother to breast cancer and the experience of grief at milestones in her life. Margaux continues to grieve the death of her mother from breast cancer.

Jessica M – My Story

Jessica talks about losing her grandfather at 14 when her mother was terminal, her mother and aunt died when she was 15. She felt alone until she found a peer support group

Craig – How men process grief

Craig talks about his personal story of grief and how he learned to process his emotions in a healthy way. He discusses the challenges that men face when grieving, and offers advice on how to find healthy ways to cope with loss.Craig lost his wife, his mother, his job, and his home in a short period of time. He describes how he felt pressured to be stoic and strong for others, and how this made it difficult for him to grieve. He eventually realized that it was important to allow himself to feel his emotions, even the difficult ones.Craig shares some of the things that helped him to process his grief, such as talking to a therapist, writing in a journal, and spending time in nature. He also emphasizes the importance of finding support from friends and family. This video is a powerful and moving story of how one man found healing after experiencing a series of devastating losses. It is an important reminder that grief is a normal and healthy emotion, and that there are healthy ways to cope with it.