What is one way you honor your grief?

One way I honor my grief is just allowing it to happen. Giving myself permission to be sad and work through a moment of grief by just sitting in that moment. Because grief seems to come at unexpected moments and I know the sadness won’t last forever I just embrace the moment.

What is one activity that you and your loved one would enjoy doing together?

We loved watching Saturday Night Live. Laughing together and retelling funny sketches was a highlight. It was always common ground and a connecting point.

What is a food you and your loved one would share together?

In general, we just liked trying new recipes. Growing up we were pretty picky and my mom made very simple, easy cheap meals for our family so as we all got older it was fun to see her experiment and try new things. I do have several of my mom’s recipes in her handwriting framed in my kitchen.

What is one word you would use to describe Brooke's Place?

Safe

What is your history/story/connection to Brooke's Place?

My mom started Brooke’s Place. My earliest memories are when I was in college when she would share her passion for helping people in their grief. I was there from the beginning and so it’s such an honor to see how Brooke’s Place continues to bring healing to so many people. I was one of the first facilitators to be trained. It was a life-changing experience and honestly, probably the first opportunity I had to work through my own grief. Serving as a facilitator taught me so much about the resiliency of humans. The simplicity of creating a space for hurting people to make a connection with others who are experiencing loss was so profound. People just want to not feel alone. Knowing someone in the room is going through the same thing, the loss of a loved one, is so comforting. I loved knowing at the end of a Brooke’s Place night I was a part of helping someone feel a little lighter. My job wasn’t to fix anything but just to hold a sacred space for someone hurting to feel connected to others and to be able to feel seen and heard