Many people struggle with feelings of guilt, and for various reasons. For some it may be the nature of the loss or the regret of things left undone or said with the lost loved one.  Guilt is also another way we grieve, we miss our loved one and even miss them in advance of the future. We try to conjure up alternative situations which we may or may not have had control over, which could have meant our loved one may still be alive.  The honest truth is that, we can never truly know what the future may or may not have looked like. It is important to accept that we will have these though ..read more

Grief, for the most part, takes us by surprise.  Even when it is anticipated, it can still feel like a shock. The initial response to losing a loved one varies from person to person, as there is a whole array of emotions felt during the pain of loss.  Although many guides refer to the stages of loss, it is not so easy to journey through them neatly stage by stage until you are eventually ‘healed’. If you have experienced the loss of a loved one or been around someone who has lost someone dear to them; you will know that grief is unpredictable and messy.  An initial response to t ..read more

As you may know, grief is difficult and can be very tumultuous due to the nature of loss that may bring about an array of different emotions. Helping a bereaved child navigate grief when you are a widowed parent poses many challenges One thing, in my opinion, about grief is that the age at which you experience loss determines how you deal with it. There isn’t a right or wrong way to grieve, but I think children and adults will deal with the loss differently.  How a child deals with the loss of a parent will differ from an adult. Adults may experience challenges when grieving, and so will ..read more

As someone that has unfortunately experienced grief, I often feel there is not much said in terms of how grief can affect our mental health. Before we go into this, I want to start by saying this isn’t expert advice or me trying to insinuate that I know everything. All I want to do is share my opinion based on my grief journey. When I lost my parents, my emotions were all over the place and so was my mental health. For the first time in my life, I had to deal with my mental health and consciously find ways to maintain my peace of mind. Before my losses, I would say my attitude towards mental ..read more

Grief comes in many shapes and sizes and it affects us all. Last week in the UK, Queen Elizabeth II died after a 70 year reign. The national response to her death from my observation has been mixed. There are those who are deeply mourning the national grief alongside the Royal family for the loss of their 96 year old mother, grandmother and Queen.  While some believe that she ‘tried’ as she was blessed enough to live on the earth for so long. Others grieve the loss of an era, the loss of a constant public figure. While others felt nothing. For many it unearthed a national grief. Opening a ..read more

If you have experienced grief on a personal level, you’ve probably heard the statement “you will get over it”. This statement seems to be the ambassador of grief blanket statements that people always say.  I remember, it was only days into the death of my husband when I was also told, “you will get over it” , in that instant, my mind wondered how I would “get over it?”? What does getting over this mean? When will l get over it? How long will it take me to get over it? What does getting over it mean? As you can see, what followed this statement for me brought nothing but more anxiety and p ..read more

‘Love gives us memories; faith gives us strength’ Grief and faith can be very complex subjects to dissect. Our faith is something we typically cling to through challenging times, and it gives us the courage to persevere as the above quote said. At times this can be applicable in times of grief, however, it is not as straightforward. Grief can leave us in a rubble and leave us unsure of where we are in our faith. Navigating through grief can be a challenging and overwhelming process. Is there space for grieving in faith? What does it look like to grieve as a Christian? There are many questi ..read more

The loss of a loved one is, of course, a painful process. As we always say, grief is not something you need to or feel like you have to go through alone. Even with this, the loss of a loved one can also be an uncomfortable process for those surrounding an individual that is grieving. To begin with, before delving into this post it is important to clarify that no matter how uncomfortable you feel or the situation may make you feel, it is vital to acknowledge their loss. Knowing what to say and the ways to reach out to someone grieving can be nerve-wracking. We have all been in a position where ..read more

We’ve spoken about different types of grief on our blogposts and its effects on many facets of life, such as sleep, finances, and everyday life. In today’s post, we are looking at some of the effects that food has on an individual whilst grieving and share a very simple food recipe to follow. The loss of a loved one does only affect us emotionally, but it can also physically affect us in many ways. There are many articles exploring the way that grief can affect you financially, your family units, and your mental wellbeing but not so many people talk about food and your relationship with it (or ..read more

The loss of a spouse has a cascading effect on every area of life, and re-establishing a social life as a widowed parent can be challenging. We have written a number of blog posts on how to cope with grief in its many phases and managing the secondary losses related to the death of a loved one.  In this post, we begin to explore the social aspects of widowed parenting. We touched on this last week, but we can begin to see some of the challenges that widowed parents may face as they embark on re-entering life.  To give context we are referring to the stage of grief where the widowed p ..read more