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When someone we love loses a child, we often ask the same question: What can I do? Especially if we live far away. Especially if we feel helpless. Especially if casseroles and flowers feel insufficient. Here is one answer that almost no one talks about, but that grieving parents desperately need: Help with the admin. Help with the logistics. Help with the unbearable paperwork that comes after a child dies. When our elderly parents die, we expect there will be accounts to clos

Nick and I grieve very differently. That sentence feels obvious and yet it keeps teaching me new things, even six years after William died. I have leaned all the way in. I am Bereavement Mom. I say that without irony or apology. It is not the only thing I am, but it is one of the truest things. The single most impactful thing that has ever happened in my life is the death of my son. William’s death rearranged me at a cellular level, and for reasons I still can’t fully explain

I made a mistake recently. I didn’t communicate my needs. I didn’t say what I was feeling. And then I felt disappointed and let down when those needs weren’t met. Have you ever done this? Slipped into that quiet place where you hope someone will just know what you need, without you having to say a word? Sometimes it feels impossibly hard to communicate. Naming what we want can make us feel vulnerable, or selfish, or too much. And sometimes, if we’re being honest, we just wan

I used to love the holiday card game. Every year, I would scrutinize our photos with a kind of tender obsessiveness, looking for the one that captured our exact family sensibility in that moment. I wanted just the right mix of love or silliness or quirk. Something that said, this is us right now. I would pick the photo, choose a design that felt fun and personal, and proudly send it off to our closest friends and family. And then William died, and all of that stopped. There w

For most families, October feels magical. The air turns crisp, the leaves blaze gold and red, and weekends fill with apple-picking,...

Grief isn’t something people leave behind at home. When someone in your organization suffers a major loss — a spouse, partner, child,...

When a child dies, one of the most painful and confusing questions parents face is: What do we do with their room? There is no single...

As the air turns crisp and back-to-school sales fill our inboxes, many parents are busy labeling water bottles, snapping “first day”...

Over the years on my journey to becoming more grief informed, I’ve been lucky to meet some truly incredible people. One of them is...

By Susie Shaw I have a fear of clipboards. It’s not a quirky dislike. It’s not about office supplies or awkward check-ins. It’s a...

Finding Community in the Loneliest Place When a child dies, grief can feel like a private language no one else speaks. Well-meaning...

By Bereavement Mom In the last few days, devastating floods have swept through Texas Hill Country, destroying roads, washing away cars...

by Susie Shaw We just put in a pool. I know. It sounds crazy. Especially when you consider how many children drown each year. Over 4,000...

By Susan Shaw As a bereaved mom, I know firsthand how grief can unravel everything you thought you knew about life. I also know how easy...

By Susan Shaw For the past few days, I’ve been at the annual symposium of the National Alliance for Children’s Grief (NACG), and it’s...

By Susan Shaw This past weekend, I returned to Colgate University for my 25th college reunion. It was my first time back since...

We are not our worst mistakes. We try to teach this to our kids from the beginning. That messing up doesn’t mean they are  messed up....

How to Support a Community When Safety Shatters and Grief Takes Hold These last few days have felt like years for so many of us. For...

Today, my community was shaken by heartbreaking news—a group of students from our high school were involved in a fatal accident while on...

-Written by WBYC Volunteer & Friend Teydin Romanowsky Last Tuesday night, my son, Aleksi, and I had the privilege of attending a...