Teens Talk Grieving the Death of a Parent, Grief Camp and Everything in Between

At the end of our interview, I asked Brandon, Leondria and Zoey if there was anything we didn’t cover that they wanted people to know about Kate’s Club or Camp Good Mourning.

“You gotta learn how to dance,” Leondria replied immediately, which may intimidate some potential volunteers and members. However, if it does, just know that ultimatum might be up for discussion, given the debate that ensues when Brandon insists you also need to know how to swim.

Zoey disagreed, and they all clarified that they of course wear life jackets for water activities (pictured). The discussion further devolves into bickering about whether or not it’s true Zoey’s cabin didn’t get to paddle board at the most recent camp because Brandon’s cabin took up the time with some splashing and antics.

It’s all in good fun. Brandon, Leondria and Zoey are all longtime Kate’s Club members who have known each other for years.

Remembering their early childhood grief

Since we just finished the 2024 Camp Good Mourning season, which included our first ever family camp, I originally sought them out to chat about all things camp. However, given their extensive histories with Kate’s Club, there was a lot more to discuss.

For example, I learned they all joined Kate’s Club only a few months after they experienced the death of a parent. I asked if they could remember how their grief felt before Kate’s Club, given they were all really young.

“Not really,” Leondria said, but she managed to elaborate quite a bit that though she understood her dad dying meant she wouldn’t see him anymore, some related topics came with some confusion. “Me and my dad lived in two different states…I just wished I could’ve been there because maybe if I was there I could have stopped something from happening, even though he died of a sickness, so I couldn’t really do anything.”

Brandon and Zoey spoke to similar feelings of guilt. Brandon was so young when his mom died that he thought she had died in childbirth. It was years later that he learned that she died years after he was born and due to natural causes.

Zoey, on the other hand, felt it wasn’t “her place” to grieve because her mom and dad were separated. Because her relationship with him was “strained at the time,” she felt she wasn’t allowed to grieve.

Finding grief support at Kate’s Club

Kate’s Club helped change some of those feelings. Before Kate’s Club, Brandon thought of his mom’s death often and let the anger and guilt build up. At Kate’s Club, he learned coping mechanisms for those feelings.

“I did learn better and healthier coping mechanisms,” Zoey agreed. “Before I would either shut down or explode on people, and [Kate’s Club] taught me that it’s okay for me to grieve.”

Leondria added that after attending just a few programs, she started to realize she wasn’t alone. Before that, most of her time with peers was at school, and nobody understood what she was going through, and it meant a lot to her knowing that there was “a community behind [her]” and “people who underst[ood].”

Attending grief camp for kids and teens in Georgia

Community and togetherness were threads that wove our entire conversation together. Many of their favorite camp memories and activities were times the entire camp came together – the camp party for Zoey, capture the flag for Leondria. Brandon recalled celebrating someone’s birthday two-ish years ago:

“It was either lunch or dinner, we all got up and started singing happy birthday. I think we missed two of our activities because we were just sitting there laughing and talking…it was pretty fun because everybody from different cabins…they all came, were talking, laughing, playing catch outside.”

Our team describes Camp Good Mourning as outdoor activities with a sprinkle of grief. As teenagers Brandon, Zoey and Leondria all agreed that the opportunity to share about their grief and learn skills to cope is the secret sauce that makes Camp Good Mourning special.

“[The other camp I go to] is about building friendships and how to communicate, but learning how to grieve healthily is a different skill that isn’t taught enough,” Zoey said.

Leondria agreed that another camp she attended was about helping the community and helping people around her, which is important, but at Camp Good Mourning members and volunteers alike learn things from each other about grief, then relate that to supporting each other through it.

Brandon said other camps to him are about going to camp overnight and having fun, which again is important, but “more of [his] thoughts and heart are going to Kate’s Club because [he’s] really passionate about that.”

Reflecting on their grief journeys as kids and teens

There is always more to share. After all, they have a collective 22 years as Kate’s Club members under their belts. Leondria shared that Kate’s Club is always on her mind, to the point that she wants to move her siblings to Georgia to attend. Brandon talked about how his cabin always feels like a brotherhood that is there for each other and talks through their grief together.

As a senior in high school, Zoey reflected on her imminent graduation from both school and our kids and teens programming: “It’s bittersweet…I’m growing up, and I’m going to have to move away from a community that I’ve been a part of so long. All the friends that I’ve made here, and family members, I’m going to miss you guys.”

At the same time, she celebrated that camp is a place to remember they are kids and allowed to have fun, even though grief can come with big and hard emotions, and even though teenagerdom comes with a lot of responsibilities.

I’m in awe of and grateful for all that Brandon, Leondria and Zoey shared with me. Zoey claims that without Kate’s Club she would lack emotional intelligence, which I’m not sure is 100% true, but it is clear they’ve gained a lot of skill articulating feelings big and small.

They all experienced the death of a parent at a young age and candidly expressed some hard feelings that came after. However, with open minds and hearts, they learned skills that they can now share with others as very emotionally intelligent teenagers.

And, of course, because they are teenagers, the last thing they wanted me to tell people about camp was that they love the food. Especially the peach cobbler, yogurt bar and salad bar.

Contact Kate’s Club for grief support in Georgia

Kate’s Club empowers children and teens, their families, and young adults facing life after the death of a parent, sibling, caregiver or someone important to them. The organization builds healing communities through recreational and therapeutic group programs, education and advocacy. Since its founding in metro Atlanta in 2003, Kate’s Club has served thousands of individuals who are grieving, through both in-house and outreach services. Kate's Club offers services in Atlanta, Albany, Athens, Brunswick, Cobb County, and Newnan, GA. For more information, visit katesclub.org.

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