I Am A Griever

Holding Space for The Many Faces of Grief on Father’s Day

A lot of blog posts and articles about grief and special days tend to focus on how to navigate these moments when our loved one has died. Often these articles of grief also talk about the ways we have deeply loved or cared for the person who has died. Grief is a natural response to…

Lyss – Seasonal Reminders

Lyss seasonal reminders and her mother dying at New Years

Betsy – Adoption and grief

Betsy tell her story of losing her adopted son to cancer

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.

Beauty found at the edges: a portrait of community support

I’d sent a text saying “Hello friends, I’m putting out a call for flowers. I went to public school with Kory, the young man who died in downtown Cobourg this week, and though I hadn’t seen him in recent years, I feel the loss of him on a community level, as I imagine you do, too. Some of Kory’s people are gathering tonight in vigil at the bank where he died, and I’m gathering flowers from those of us who have gardens to share with this grieving community. Do you have some blooms in your garden that you’d be willing to share?”

Practicing Self Compassion while Grieving

Grief is messy, confusing, enormously painful, and never seems to follow a linear path. This is when we need to take care of ourselves deeply, and yet, why is it that this is also when we beat ourselves up the most? We are good at being compassionate toward others when they are grieving — something…

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.

Joyce – A favorite memory with music

Joyce tells a story about her son supporting her and the power of music

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

Jim – Humour and grief

Jim talks about how humour can help us cope with grief. “I’m Irish, and we have a saying that ‘laughter is the best medicine.’ I believe that humour can help us to see the lighter side of life, even in the midst of pain. It can help us to connect with others, and it can help us to find hope. I encourage you to find ways to laugh, even when you’re grieving. It might not always be easy, but it can make a big difference.”

Adam – Story 1

Adam shares about losing his Mom and the many wonderful things he remembers

Scott – Process and lyrics

Scott talks about his process with lyrics and how his song “So far away” was for his mother in law. Find the song at his website www.dotbmusic.ca