29/04/2026
Keeping photos up. Holding onto belongings. Having reminders of someone you've lost all around you.
There's no right or wrong answer. And for most people, it's completely healthy.
But here's something I want you to sit with honestly —
If after a few years, you're breaking down in tears every time you see them... if the photos, the belongings, the reminders are pulling you under rather than holding you steady... that's worth paying attention to. Not because something is wrong with you. But because it might be telling you that you need a little more support.
That doesn't mean getting rid of anything.
It might mean moving things — finding a different place for them in your home, and in your heart. It might mean taking a bag of clothes to someone who can turn them into a quilt, or a keepsake bear — something that holds the same love but lives differently in your life. It might mean a memory box, a collage, a different kind of tribute that feels less raw and more cherished.
Grief can get stuck. And when it does, it sometimes shows up in the things around us.
Try not to let other people's opinions lead you here. Check in with yourself. Be honest with yourself. Because ultimately, only you know how you're really doing.
If the people who love you are gently noticing. If you're finding it hard to move through your days. If those reminders are holding you back from living rather than enriching your life — please reach out. To a therapist, a grief counsellor, or honestly, to me. Let's talk about it.
But if you can function. If you can live. If you cry sometimes and that's okay — that's okay. You are allowed to feel sad. You are allowed to miss them. That's not a problem to fix.
What I help people do is walk alongside their grief. To get to a place where the photos around the house — the faces of the people they've loved and lost — bring comfort. A smile. A warm memory. Not a wave of pain they have to brace for every time they walk down the stairs.
I look at the photos of Chris, my dad, my brother, my father-in-law — and I smile. At the memories. At the love. That's what's possible. And that's what I'm here to help you find.
That's love. And love doesn't have an expiry date. 💛