Death of a Parent

Jackie – Expressive arts can help when grief is confusing

Jackie talks about how working with an artist therapist helped her after her sister and mother died

Katie – Reminders in nature

Katie talks about crying privately and how nature can help. Cardinals remind her of her father

Bryan – Mom

Bryan gives his mother credit for how well she raised her two sons after her husband was murdered

Jeff – “Talking About Grief”

Jeff outlines the story of losing his mother to cancer and the difficulty he experienced when he struggled to acknowledge his grief after her death.

Grief & Ice Cream

When my wife of 18 years died in 2016, I became a single father missing the love of my life, and also had to learn how to raise two girls (13-17 at the time) on my own. I remember a conversation I had with my mother-in-law and oldest daughter that began as reminiscing over a person who became a lost love to all of us. We all talked about different aspects of my wife but shortly, it transformed into a “who meant more to her” fest.

Katie – My Story

Katie shares about her story and losing her Dad to cancer during COVID

Hope – Not wanting to burden my Mom and school

Hope talks about her fathers death, burdens and the importance of sharing emotions

Kim – It’s different during a pandemic

Kim talks about how the pandemic influenced how they were able to deal with her Mum’s death

KIm – Planning a funeral in the pandemic

Kim explains the ups and downs of planning a funeral during the pandemic

Karyn and Aidan – The what if game and guilt

Karyn and Aidan explain how they have dealt with guilt

Caileigh – My own grief and supporting others

Caileigh tells about her own grief and now it has given her a really powerful lens on how to support children going through grief as well. Along with her professional education and training, there is now a different perspective on grief and how that fits in with supporting others.

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.