Something really cool happened to me this week. I heard a new story about my dad. This might seem very simple, and, in a way, it is. It’s also incredibly complex.
I’ve written about my dad a handful of times on Kate's Club's blog post, but for new readers, I lost my dad 16 years ago when he chose to take his own life. Because he chose suicide, he hasn’t been discussed consistently within my family since his death. Here and there, we remember. But we don’t often talk and share. So, mostly what I know about my dad is what I can remember, and each year, those memories fade as I move further and further away from Feb. 24, 1996, but this week was different.
This week, I learned more about my dad and how he shaped another person's life. Out of respect for the person who shared this story with me, I won’t recount the details.
Here’s why I’m sharing this with you: Grief awareness can be conveyed in many ways. With a hug, by listening, through shared experience, and it can be conveyed through storytelling. If you can tell a story about someone who has been lost, there is often a high likelihood that their loved ones may not be aware of that event. As you share with them, for a moment, you give their loved one life as they experience a story they’ve never experienced before. As I sat listening, mesmerized by this new story about my dad earlier this week, he was alive again for a moment. It was simply exhilarating.
If you can breathe life into a person who has been lost by someone you love, you shouldn’t hesitate. It’s a priceless gift.
Would you like to share your story? Please get in touch with Kate's Club! KC has free grief support with grief resources, grief counseling resources, grief training, and volunteer work in Atlanta and surrounding places in Georgia. Kate's Club is a growing nonprofit in Atlanta with grief specialists for kids and young adults going through bereavement. Our goal is to make a world where it is okay to grieve.