Grief Over Time: How My Mom’s Cancer Led Me to Kate’s Club

by Ashley Byars, Kate’s Club Board of Directors All I have to hear is one note of a Whitney Houston song and I’m instantly transported back to driving around the city in a red Mustang, sipping on Oreo milkshakes with my mom as The Bodyguard soundtrack blasted in the background. My mom loved driving around…

Read More

Meet Buddy Volunteer Obi

We are showing gratitude for our amazing Buddy Volunteers who help us run Kate’s Club programs and show our members that they are not alone in their grief. Here is a short interview with our Kate’s Club Buddy Obi! How long have you been volunteering at Kate’s Club?Since October 2021. Why do you volunteer at…

Read More

Loss and Gratitude: A Simple Gesture

By Donna Moss, Development Coordinator About three years ago, I received the call that one of my best friends, Calvin, had committed suicide. In that moment, a numbing wave washed over me. Feeling like I took a hit to the stomach, I couldn’t talk, let alone breathe. In the days following the news, my breath…

Read More

Loss and Gratitude: A Father Tribute

By Cindy Schoell, Board Chair I was 4 years old when my mother died after a 4 year battle with breast cancer.  My parent’s were quite amazing in the fact that they never hid my mother’s illness from my sister, who is 2 years older than me, and I.  When my mother died, my father…

Read More

Loss and Gratitude: The Power of Family

By Hannah Arney, Marketing Intern and Former KC Member When I turned 8, my eleven-year old sister was diagnosed with a brain tumor. My sister spent many weeks and even months at a time in the hospital where she received chemo, radiation and stem cell treatments. This meant one of my parents and sometimes both…

Read More

Loss and Gratitude: Honoring the Ones That Stepped Up

By Lane Pease, Program Director First of all, anything I write about Father’s Day would not be complete if I did not honor my late husband and father to my daughters, Jim. He was a wonderful father that seemed to take to parenthood naturally from the moment our first daughter was born (a lot more…

Read More

Keturah's Camp Good Mourning Story

Maybe it was the refreshing breeze, or the serenity I felt as I strolled through the camps pathway. Perhaps it was simply the joyous conversations coming from some of the campers and warm hugs and smiles from the buddies. Though I can’t pinpoint what it was specifically, I knew this combination made me feel right…

Read More

Camp Good Mourning

I’ve never been to a bereavement camp before. I didn’t know what to expect, especially since I’ve never gone to any camp as an intern before.  I didn’t know whether my role would be one of camper support or running around doing whatever anyone needed from me. My role was a little bit of both…

Read More

Recipe for the Best Me

Grief can throw us for a loop in all aspects of our lives, especially how we feel about ourselves. Sometimes it makes us feel like we’re falling apart at the seams. Sometimes it makes us feel alone. Sometimes it makes us question who we are. When we feel this way during our grieving, it’s difficult…

Read More