The Hummingbird Centre for Hope

Check out our Weekly Newsletter!: https://buff.ly/3CkcyhK Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to receive more updates. #grief #hope #healing #widow

1 in 14 children will experience the death of a parent or sibling by the time they turn 18. In just one year, over 203,000 of Canada’s 7.5 million children under 18 will experience the death of someone in their extended family. Almost 40,000 will experience the death of a parent or sibling who lives in their home. The death of a parent or sibling is one of the most stressful life events that a child or youth can experience. This month is dedicated to ensuring support for grieving youth continues to grow and bringing awareness to this issue to increase access to support. #childrensgriefawarenessday #childrensgriefawarenessmonth #grief #hope #youth

The Day of the Dead (Día De los Muertos) is a way of maintaining a healthy and intimate relationship with the unknown. It is an occasion for festivities, a profound recollection of those who died, and an invitation to reflect on life and death. Check out this great website to learn more about the history of this day and its significance for many cultures! https://buff.ly/2IUCEJr #diadelosmuertos #dayofthedead #grief #healing #hope

Halloween may not be for everyone. Check out this article from @whatsyourgrief on Halloween https://buff.ly/2SiBudR #halloween #grief #healing #support

Click this link to read this week's Newsletter: https://buff.ly/3YmSsux Link in our bio to register for email updates. #newsletter #grief #healing #hope

Make sure to get your free ticket and join Hummingbird and other amazing organizations at the Legacy Expo on Saturday, Sept 28th. Here is the link to get tickets https://buff.ly/4dN8PXH Here is an online guide featuring a number of the exhibitors https://buff.ly/47nl1fd

I am so excited to share that we have some new facilitators that will be hosting our virtual group. I am beyond grateful for them to share their time and wisdom to not only support our widowed parents, but to also support me and free up some of my time so we can introduce our newest program LEGACY TRaCS (more on that below) All of our new facilitators have been trained by life - they are widowed parents too, but also trained by Hummingbird. You will be in amazing hands as they share their wisdoms with you. Our West Coast group will have a new consistent facilitator, Christine and her co-facilitator will change each month. And our Better Together Dad's Group will continue to be facilitated by our Greg's (Gregg & Greg) As for our LEGACY TRaCS group. Many of you have asked for more details regarding the format of this group. Here you go! This group is designed for those farther along in their journey – not to put any timelines on it, but around the 2yr mark. I am happy to chat this over with anyone who is interested regardless of where you are in your journey. To take a quote from the book Conscious Grieving by Claire Bidwell Smith Grieving consciously means allowing yourself to integrate this loss into your life. It never has to be okay that your person died. You don't ever have to get over it. And you don't need to reach some mythical place of acceptance in order to heal. What you are working toward is learning how to live with your loss. Living with loss means incorporating and integrating the loss into your life. It means assuming a new identity as someone who has experienced the death of someone they love. It means living in a world without your person. In my years of supporting bereaved people, there comes a time when you feel your energy shift to wanting more - it’s a shift from focusing on the past to beginning to think about your future. This group will meet monthly via zoom. There will be a combination of education, discussion questions and you will be sent home with "Things to think about" aka homework! All topics are focused around the concept of "What Now / What Next" as you begin to actively think of your future. Homework could be a combination of reading and reflecting on questions that will prep you for our next month's group. The more you engage, the more you will benefit. I am asking that you commit to attending every session as best you can. For those of you in early days of grief, we have our Finding Hope group starting Tuesday Oct 8, 2024 and running for 6 wks until Nov 12. Heather will be your facilitator. And for those interested, our Legacy Kids group (which is for parents) starts immediately after for 3 wks hosted by Cath, (Nov 19 - Dec 3) Reply to this newsletter if I can answer questions about any of our programs. And a HUGE shout out to all our parents who have launched their children into their next stage of schooling.

Today is World Suicide Prevention Day. This year’s theme is “Change the Narrative” Changing the narrative on suicide is about transforming how we perceive this complex issue. It’s about shifting from a culture of silence and lack of understanding to openness, empathy, and support. Changing the narrative on suicide aims to inspire individuals, communities, organizations, and governments to engage in open and honest discussions about suicide and suicidal behaviour. By initiating these vital conversations, we can break down barriers, raise awareness, and create better cultures of understanding and support. https://lnkd.in/gU7tE4-W #starttheconversation #wspd #griefandhealing

Today we recognize all those who are grieving a death or other types of losses. Take time today to honour your loss in a way that works for you. #griefawarenessday #grief #healing #widowed

I want to thank you all for your kind words, the checking in's and your patience as I grieve the death of my Mom Grief is a fascinating beast. I admit I have a full love-hate relationship with it. I believe it has so much to teach us about life, love, values and more. Grief changes our core and the new world looks different - how can we not be forever changed by the death of someone special? Over the years I have taken trainings and seminars to learn more about grief both for personal interest and to hopefully make me a better companion for others who are grieving. I have learned how grief can work, and how it impacts our brain, our thoughts and our body. I have learned coping strategies to support these impacts. But then my Mom died. All the education and learning went out the door and the impact of grief flooded in. With that came the brain fog (I am actually giggling at myself at my loss of words and forming sentences has become a challenge) I’m tired and unmotivated. My body moves slowly, and my emotions are sporadic. I am on the roller coaster of grief and I have never liked roller coasters These past weeks I have also reflected back to my early days after Keith died I have done what we shouldn't do and compared my grief experience over Keith to that of my Mom. Knowing what I know now, I truly wonder how I survived and more importantly how did I survive with 2 young kids? The biggest difference is that this time I feel supported - I have a community around me and that is making all the difference. My Mom's death has made the world feel unbalanced and shaky. I feel like I’m walking around crooked, leaning to one side or the other. But I am not afraid of falling. I have built an amazing group of people who are now my external structure preventing me from falling down. As much as I hate having knowledge and experience of how grief works I am grateful for it. Now when my grief bubbles, I’m Ok with it. Grief doesn’t scare me this time. I welcome it and embrace it and I am getting comfortable sitting in my muck.