The Grievers Garden

The Grievers Garden Grief recovery specialist. Grief, after all; is just love trying to find a new home.

Last week we said an official goodbye to Birdie Bear - our beloved family cat. This was the first time I’ve ever hosted ...
11/22/2025

Last week we said an official goodbye to Birdie Bear - our beloved family cat. This was the first time I’ve ever hosted or attended a “cat funeral”. As weird as it sounds to some, this was such a meaningful time to invite our village to come commemorate Birdie. That his little life mattered. Ritual really helps us move our grief, set a figurative stone to say “this happened. This mattered.” My oldest shared a slideshow, my middle child, a story, and my youngest a poem. I am so proud of them- for having open hearts, for inviting friends in, for loving deeply.
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Those who know me, know i have never been a “pet person”, but this loss has humbled me. Changed me for the better. And taught me that even the smallest of paws can nestled into my heart.

This quote has become my most shared quote from grief literature. Wild edge of sorrow by Francis Weller
11/22/2025

This quote has become my most shared quote from grief literature. Wild edge of sorrow by Francis Weller

Grief is not looking to be cured but to be cared for.
11/18/2025

Grief is not looking to be cured but to be cared for.

The kids and I eat pancakes every Friday for supper (Pancake Fridays) since 2017 when our world was turned upside down. ...
11/15/2025

The kids and I eat pancakes every Friday for supper (Pancake Fridays) since 2017 when our world was turned upside down. I left the abusive marriage I was in with their dad, my own dad get diagnosed with terminal cancer three weeks later, and the we moved back to England to be closer to family. Pancake Friday was birthed in a year of deep pain and sadness and it was one night a week where I felt like me- the mother I wanted to be, the fun person i found it hard to find. We played loud music, danced, and ate yummy food.
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A couple years back we decided to have “ice cream for supper”. My middle children (definitely the funny kid) exclaims “look at us interrupting the rules of life”. We all howled laughing - and as I reflected on it, it reminded me how important it is to interrupt the rules of life with something fun, silly, joyful snd playful. It’s especially been important for me and the kids in our grief, as loss really has interrupted our lives in the ways we wish it never had. So taking back this ritual, choosing playful ways to make life fun again- and now we have coined the phrase “interrupt the rules of life”.
How could you do this in your own life?

It was 4 years last weekend since my beloved grandma died. She’s always been my favourite person, and everyone knew it. ...
10/24/2025

It was 4 years last weekend since my beloved grandma died. She’s always been my favourite person, and everyone knew it. She was kind, hilarious and loving- giving us a magical childhood anytime we spent it with her.
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She struggled a lot in her life, from being raised by her grandmother because she was born “out of wedlock”, having no father, and her pregnancy with my dad, forced her into a harmful marriage with my grandfather. All three of her sons died before her- and it’s a grief of my own to have witnessed my grandmother suffer with such devastating loss. I am so proud of her, and what she survived in her life.
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Dementia robbed her years before her final breath. But she was always the beautiful, sparkly, magical woman who went everywhere in her high heels.
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One of the most profound and honouring moments of my life was being her pallbearer. To carry her home to rest. Her coffin- untraditional like her- a woven basket that was her final resting spot.
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Grief has been woven through my whole life, this woman was part of who I am in so many ways. And I’m so thankful for her and miss her every day.

The Baby I Never Held⭐️I felt you,But I never saw you.It was a daylight robbery,Stealing your life in a hurry.“There. Is...
10/15/2025

The Baby I Never Held
⭐️
I felt you,
But I never saw you.
It was a daylight robbery,
Stealing your life in a hurry.

“There. Is. No. Heartbeat.”
Words from the doctors seat,
Our future faded away,
As I wept for you to stay.

Knowing you still lived there,
But would be leaving me soon,
Accepting my body’s betrayal,
As I longed for the chance to cradle you.

I wept myself dry,
And I sang prayers to the night,
My body defied me,
And I could see no more light.

Joy never came the next morning,
There was no dancing inside of my mourning,
I walked through the loss as bare as can be,
And felt every part of it, no stoics for me.

There is now one less child,
Sat around my table,
One less pancake to flip,
And one less kid to be playful.

There’s onesies in boxes,
That will never be worn,
And a family future,
That will never be born.

So I see you, dear mothers,
Clasping empty wombs,
There’s no rainbow or tomorrows
To negate all these sorrows.

I see you.
You see me.
Together we grieve.
Let’s surround one another,
And for a brighter tomorrow
We shall believe.

Try curiosity instead 🩷🧡
10/13/2025

Try curiosity instead 🩷🧡

Every child matters. Samuel Bird matters. Indigenous grief matters. Indigenous joy matters.
10/01/2025

Every child matters. Samuel Bird matters. Indigenous grief matters. Indigenous joy matters.

May we continue to hold space for grief, joy and fighting for something better. This quote moves my soul every time I re...
09/28/2025

May we continue to hold space for grief, joy and fighting for something better. This quote moves my soul every time I read it.

Grief deserves a witness. 👁️Sometimes, that is simply all it needs. To be seen, to be heard, to be sat alongside. Not to...
09/27/2025

Grief deserves a witness. 👁️
Sometimes, that is simply all it needs.
To be seen, to be heard, to be sat alongside.
Not to try and fix, pray away or to intellecutulize it.
It isn’t always “figurable-out-able” (stay with me on this one 🤣).
The medicine is often in the being seen for just where you are. Not trying to push you to some figurative healing finish line.
While the often well intentioned but dismissive platitudes and hallmark sentiments of “they are in a better place” or “heaven needed another angel” won’t cut it.
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These often cause us to feel unseen to other in our grief. Like our grief is inconvenient for the coffee shop date, the dinner table or the birthday party.
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Grief deserves a witness. At the kitchen table, in the schoolyard, in the workplace, in the ordinary and extraordinary moments of life. To be seen and heard often leads to feeling loved. 🥰

An important reshare from
09/19/2025

An important reshare from

New adventure loading… I am happy to announce that I am the newest facilitator at Kaleo Collective- a non profit organiz...
09/10/2025

New adventure loading… I am happy to announce that I am the newest facilitator at Kaleo Collective- a non profit organization supporting single moms. This is such a full circle moment, that I feel so proud of being a part of. I am still very much at my full time position in grief support at the hospice I love so much- but this is a side venture I’m so excited to have been invited into. I’m no expert on being a single momma, but I am full@of gratitude that the journey of grief and loss has led to such a blossom of hope and redemption. ❤️❤️

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4907 30 Avenue NW
Edmonton, AB

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+15879881921

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