I Am A Griever

Left Out: Enfranchising Children’s Grief and Loss

By: Jessica Milette, MSW, RSW All human beings have the capacity to grieve: people with intellectual disabilities, those living with a traumatic brain injury, and children of all ages. However, many people can experience disenfranchised grief when someone dies. Disenfranchised grief is generally grief that is not usually openly acknowledged, socially accepted or publicly mourned.…

Lyss – Music

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

Scott – The importance of processing

Scott discusses having a nervous breakdown and realizing that he hadn’t fully processed the grief he had been through with the loss of his mother and father. He also discusses how music helped him moving forward

Scott – Writing music

Scott talks about the cathartic nature of writing music stories

Angie – My Story

Angie shares her story of being a police officer for 31 years , mental health and grief

When Death Feels like a Thief

In the heart of my grief, at my frailest, all I could see was what was no more. I grieved all that was stolen from me by death; love, security and even my very self. Had I known the value of having every pocket of who I was, picked bare by grief, I would not have fought so hard to hold onto it all.

Lyss – Losing My Mother

Lyss discusses losing her mother and how her first thought was that her mother would never meet her kids Now being a mother herself brings back many memories of her.

Nicole – Grieving as a community

Nicole discusses the power of grieving together as a community. Finding connection and trust.

Jim – Supporting someone in crisis

Jim talks about supporting someone in crisis and how being there for them can help. That may mean answering the phone at 2am, taking them to the doctor’s appointment, and checking tup on them. It’s not easy, but it’s the right thing to do. He was fortunate to have a friend who did this for him, and is still grateful for their support. If you know someone who is struggling, don’t be afraid to step up. It could make all the difference.

Weaving the Tapestry of Love

Learning to become a better person is a wonderful consequence of being in a loving relationship with someone; you’re present in ways that help them grow into their best self. It’s an organic process you flow with on a journey we map out with intention, though in reality, it remains unknowable. That is why a…

John – Dating again

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