Death of A Loved One

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.

Lyss – Music

Lyss remembers playing music for her mother as she was dying and how music has helped with feelings

Kate – Triggers

Kate discusses how she deals with her emotions when something triggers her grief

Ellen – “Grieving her grandmother”

Ellen talks about her grief and the loss of her grandmother.

Andrea – Grieving during a pandemic

Andrea discusses the challenges of grieving during a pandemic

Antoinetta – Things that help when struggling

Antoinetta talks about the first time she learned that it was ok that she was grieving and how to unpack all her feelings

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.

What I know about grief

The following are some things I know to be true about grief for me, based on my lived experience. Some of them may resonate with you as well. Grief is unique to the people experiencing it in each moment, so please take whatever makes sense to you from this share and leave whatever doesn’t.

Russell – “Supporting each other”

Russell discusses how he is adjusting to the new normal. Russell continues to grieve the perinatal death of his son.

Learning from Grief

Grief is weird. Odd start, I know, but that was the sentence I used a lot whenever someone asked me how I was. It was never a constant feeling; it changed day to day. And still does. It’s the full gambit of emotions from sadness to anger to guilt and, though dark, even humour found its way in.

Caileigh – Sharing grief experience to spread hope and kindness

Caileigh talks about taking the opportunity to share her personal and professional grief experiences as a way to spread hope and to spread kindness.

Making Space to Hear Them: supporting children in grief

Children tend to be naturally curious as they grow and learn to navigate the world. As adults, it’s our job to walk with them through that process of learning and to support their curiosity. It can be hard to do that with respect when we are situated in cultures that don’t acknowledge children as autonomous humans worthy of mutual respect. It can be tempting to encourage kids to ignore their feelings about death and grief or to shut down conversations about it when they ask questions. Sometimes, this is because we just don’t know what to say that is developmentally appropriate, especially with young children. Sometimes, it’s because we haven’t allowed ourselves to develop our own thoughts and feelings about death and grief and it feels uncomfortable for us to talk about.