Death of A Loved One

Michael – “A story of loss and longing”

Michael relays a story of a man coping after the loss of his wife.

Krista – “Opioids and Mental Illness”

Krista talks about opioids and mental health. Krista continues to grieve the death of her son from opioid overdose.

Betsy – Mother’s day

Betsy shares her challenges around mother’s day when her adopted son died

Shawn – “Dad”

Shawn describes finding out his father died by suicide and the shock and grief that followed. Shawn continues to grieve the death of his father by suicide

Kate – My story

Kate tells her story of being away when her brother died of an opioid overdose

The Reflection Room® project: How storytelling supports processing grief

The Reflection Room project is an evidence-based participatory art installation that was developed by researchers at the SE Research Centre and Memorial University in 2016. The project included a research component that evaluated the impact of Reflection Rooms as the project adapted over time to address changing needs.

Krista – “Mental illness and self medicating”

Krista talks about mental health and self medicating. Krista continues to grieve the death of her son from opioid overdose.

Katie – Getting stronger

Katie talks losing her mother when she was young and how the experience helped her when she lost her Dad

Kim – Checking in is very important

Kim explains why it is so important to check in and keep in touch with people who have lost

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.

Jean – Be good to yourself

Jean shares about support and not being hard on yourself

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.