New to the Grief Club?
Welcome to the Grief Club. I'm sorry you're here.
This might seem weird. I think it's just a way we all cope with out loss by calling it a grief club. I apologize if it seems off-putting... I know it might seem that way at first. The reason is once you lose someone... you just "get it." You don't want to, but you do.
Let's talk about grief.
Below I'll share some resources you can check out that may be helpful for you. Grief is complicated. When you lose someone you love, you want the world to stop turning, but it hurts even more when it doesn't. It can feel like the world is moving on and you're alone in your grief. I can't take away that pain of grief, but I will try and provide some resources that may help. I'm not a professional in any sense of the manner, just a fellow griever sharing her own personal experience with grief.
Grief doesn't have a timeline. So, don't be surprised if you're not moving through the stages as fast as you thought you should. Actually, scratch the stages of grief from your mind (they were actually meant for those with a terminal illness... a different type of grief.) There is no true guide for how to grieve. We sometimes grieve the past, the present, and the future. We grieve both what was and what can no longer be.
Nothing is weird when it comes to grief. You might find yourself clinging to trinkets or items that remind you of your loved one. You might feel guilt for unresolved issues or conversations. You might try and find yourself searching for a "bigger than me" reason for all this grief. How you cope is just how you cope. Coping with your loss is not a bad thing or weird thing and it's important to remember you are not "moving on" by learning how to cope with the loss of a loved one.
Resources for those Newly Grieving (or anyone grieving)
List of Useful Websites about Grieving
www.RefugeInGrief.com (Author of It's Okay That You're Not Okay)
www.DrJessicaZucker.com (I Had A Miscarriage)
Grief Blogs
List of Instagram Profiles about Loss
List of TikTok Accounts about Loss
@PhillyDeathDoula (Social Worker)
@JessChamberlain (Life after Child Loss)
@AdvancedBitches (Therapist)
Shows About Grief
After Life by Ricky Gervais (personally one of my favorites because of his humor)
Dead to Me (it isn't as direct with grief in the overall plot, but I do think it highlights aspects of a grieving widow)
Never Have I Ever (Netflix Show about a girl who lost her dad)
WandaVision (on Disney + )
This is Us
A Million Little Things
Grey's Anatomy (I mean it made me cry before grief, but now everything just hits harder)
Movies About Grief (One day I'll update to include non Disney movies, but for some reason these ones hit even harder once you lose someone you love)
Disney's Up
Disney's The Lion King
Disney's Soul
Disney's Big Hero 6
Disney's Onward
Disney's Coco
Suggestions for Holding onto Memories
Hang up photographs of you're loved one (take out old ones from the storage unit)
Keep the funeral card they hand out (I have mine from my Dad's on my fridge)
Keep old voicemails, cards, hand written notes (it's nice to see their writing and hear their voices)
Try and go to their favorite restaurant or cook recipes that remind you of them
Hold onto a physical item (I keep an angel bracelet my dad gave me)
Find ways to incorporate them into big milestones (like when I was getting married I tried to find ways he could be remembered though was no longer with us)
As linked above, this page includes a playlist available on Amazon about grief. It also includes four songs and lyrics that relate to grieving. Feel free to click the link above for the playlist or click here for the full posting.