I’m hosting a gathering for people experiencing parent and grandparent loss. (You’re welcome to join if a guardian, nanny, or other parental figure died too.) Because living without someone you’ve always had is devastating. How is it possible that your parent or grandparent isn’t here? 

They’ve always existed.

Some deaths make us feel emptier than others. This is because they break the family unit that was present. Maybe your parent or grandparent was the person who held the family together. The one who saw you through the different stages of life and became your best friend.

However, this isn’t true for everyone. Parents and grandparents aren’t always close to us. Perhaps you barely knew them, had an estranged relationship, or feel guilty because life feels more peaceful without them. Maybe they died when you were younger and you’re grieving them for the first time or differently than you previously had. 

As someone who’s lived through parental loss, I can relate to the range of thoughts and feelings in this grief. You lost the person who celebrated you most, the opportunity to reconcile, or possibly have them as the parent you deserved to have. 

It all feels final, surreal, and heartbreaking.

Society loves to say that since it’s normal for parents and grandparents to die, and that you should move on or be over it by now. Horrible. They return to their everyday lives while you’re left struggling with an overwhelm of grief.

Grief is a lonely and difficult journey. It feels even more isolating when many cannot relate to your experience or offer toxic positivity. At our gathering, you won’t find that. Instead, we’ll virtually gather to share coping tips and discuss our challenges.

You’ll meet people who “get it” and not just because they’ve lost someone. But because they’re surviving a similar loss like you.