Grief Stories
317 FOLLOWERS
Real people share their stories of loss and the insights that help them on their journey with grief. Hosted by Maureen Pollard.
Grief Stories
2M ago
Maureen Pollard interviews Vicky about losing her husband to myeloma, after surviving prostate and bladder cancer. They discuss the challenge of not having a cancer clinic where they lived, meaning they had to for drive hours back and forth for treatment. They spent so much money on hotels that they ended up having to leave their home and move closer to the clinic, adding an additional struggle of maneuvering their new apartment stairs in his state of illness. She talks about how her physical and mental health was affected as his health deteriorated, but she could still only see him with love ..read more
Grief Stories
3M ago
Maureen Pollard interviews Betsy about losing her adopted son to cancer on Mother's Day weekend. They discuss the grief and loss her son had already been through in his young life, and how powerful and beautiful it was for him to then have Betsy by his side, supporting him through his cancer journey and loving him at the end of his life. Betsy talks about how much expressive arts and creativity helped him, and how talented he was: "So many things that he [drew] were those kinds of expressions of what he was feeling scared about, but also very joyful things that would get hung around our room ..read more
Grief Stories
3M ago
Maureen Pollard interviews Tracee Dunblazier, a Spiritual Empath, Shaman and award-winning Author of 'Transformative Grief: An Ancient Ritual of Healing for Modern Times' about every day grief. They discuss the importance of dedicated grieving time, of spending time with your grief, whatever you are grieving. Tracee talks about how there is every day grief: "Grief is not just about loss. We experience transitions on a daily basis, our need and ability to pivot in a situation. The coffee machine broke and now I have to go out and get coffee, because I have to have coffee, right? So we have thes ..read more
Grief Stories
3M ago
Maureen Pollard interviews Kailey Bradley, a licensed professional Counselor in the state of Ohio, who specializes in grief therapy. They discuss a different type of grief - one that stems from infertility and chronic illness. Kailey talks about how she has had to grieve her life, and her future as she once imagined it, after being diagnosed with infertility as well as a chronic illness and an immune deficiency. She talks about how there are always new moments of coming to terms with her infertility, like when she became an aunt for example. She also discusses the challenges of navigating the ..read more
Grief Stories
3M ago
Maureen Pollard interviews Jarie, author of 'Ride or Die: Loving Through Tragedy, a Husband's Memoir' about losing this wife to leukemia and the challenges of becoming her caretaker as newlyweds, her diagnosis coming a little over a year after they married. "You get swallowed by it, you lose yourself ... that was something that didn't happen overnight and I didn't realize, but I wasn't me anymore. I was Jane's husband, I was her caregiver, I was Captain Team Jane for lack of a better word. You lose a little bit of your humanity and not because - your sick spouse obviously doesn't want that to ..read more
Grief Stories
3M ago
Maureen Pollard interviews Tahmeed and Jadine, Toronto-based Journalists involved in research about communal grief after suicide on University campuses. They discuss their key findings, such as how loneliness is linked to mental and physical health challenges, therefore people who are emotionally supported in grief tend to do and feel better. They also talk about the shared experience and shared struggle of a mental health crisis that students on campus experience when someone dies by suicide. "Bereavement by suicide is a specific type of bereavement that's different from a lot of other types ..read more
Grief Stories
4M ago
Maureen Pollard interviews Ellanne Thomson about losing both of her parents, in the span of 7 months, to cancer. They discuss how her mother was diagnosed with Lymphoma back in 2017, before then being terminally diagnosed with multiple brain tumors in 2021, giving a timeframe for her passing. "There were many many challenges as you can imagine. The biggest challenge with my mom, going through that and getting the terminal diagnosis, the biggest challenge was - and I now know it's called Anticipatory Grief - where you know this is coming but you're trying to be present because you know you have ..read more
Grief Stories
1y ago
Maureen Pollard interviews Tara McGuire, author of 'Holden After and Before: A Love Letter for a Son Lost to Overdose', about her experience of losing a child to an accidental opioid overdose at the age of twenty-one, and the stages of grief that followed. "[Integration] makes a lot more sense to me than acceptance. Some things are completely unacceptable. But, I think what I have been doing now that you mention that, is integrating Holden's death into the fabric of my life and my family in a way that can coexist. Sometimes we talk about parallel tracks, like you can have this grief track that ..read more
Grief Stories
1y ago
In this episode, Holly and Murray talk with Maureen about a music program that was run for staff at a transitional shelter. This was the pilot for the Songwriting for Wellness program, which has recently launched through Toronto Songwriting School. They say, "One of the most fulfilling developments for us in recent years has been creating songwriting programs for groups of people who have experienced loss or trauma. To formalize the program, Murray Foster has teamed up with social worker Maureen Pollard to create Songwriting for Wellness, providing programs for professionals in high-stress, tr ..read more
Grief Stories
1y ago
Mike Bonikowsky, experienced in providing support to people with Intellectual Disabilities, shares insights and strategies for providing support that is respectful and meets the needs of the individual with intellectual disabilities who is grieving ..read more