I Am A Griever

Betsy – Mother’s day

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

Grief, Breastfeeding, and Care

In this essay, I share a bit about my story of grief and breastfeeding. I also share some thoughts about the cultural grief some people are carrying about the lack of support afforded to lactating families whose goal it is to feed their baby from their body. I use some gendered language throughout this essay…

Adam – Things that are OK to do

Adam talks about things he does to cope with grief like singing and crying

John – Dating again

John talks about being asked by his daughters if he would ever date again

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.

Kate – Triggers

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

Angie – Cumulative grief, cumulative trauma

Angie discusses the challenges of policing and how trauma and grief can accumulate

John – Lasagna

John talks about the “widower’s meal”… Lasagna, and learning how to cook for his daughters after his wife died

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.

Scott – Lyrics

Scott – Talks about how a friend in grief helped with the lyrics of “So far away”.Find the song at his website www.dotbmusic.ca

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

Kate – My art and my brother

Kate talks about being an artist and expression through art can remind her of her brothers encouragement