Grief Resources- Bemidji

10/15/2025

a griever’s to do list 📝

from my book: Then Death Came 🥀

what would you add?

09/25/2025

We’re fans of this idea!

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Cvpeq92fs/?mibextid=

Why Don’t We Celebrate A Deathday?

We throw confetti for the day we show up but go curiously silent about the day we leave.

Birthdays get cake, candles, bad singing, and gift receipts that never make it back to the store.

Meanwhile, the day someone we loved took their final bow slips by each year like a gray shadow on the calendar. We call one a ‘birthday,’ but the other? Nothing. Just a date, empty, unsaid.

And yet, if you think about it, that second day is at least as defining. It’s the last word in a story, the period after the wild, messy, beautiful run-on sentence of a life.

Shouldn't that be worth commemorating? Not as a grim ritual in black clothing, but as a celebration of what was lived, the echoes still rattling around in us.

Here’s the thing…I think maybe we need a new tradition.

If we can name a whole day for the fact that we showed up, why can’t we name one for the day we become unforgettable?

We could call it a ‘Lifeday,’ or a ‘Remember-Day.’ Something like that.

On that day, instead of crying and living through the day in silence, we could cook their favorite dish, even if it’s as questionable as boiled hot dogs with mustard. We could tell their favorite joke that no one actually laughed at, or wear their old band t-shirt, even though it’s two sizes too big, or just raise a glass, not just to mourn, but to toast to the beauty of them.

After all, birthdays are weird if you think about it. Who really deserves the credit? The baby, who just showed up screaming? Or the mother, who actually did all the work?

Yet we’ve built an entire industry out of balloons and cakes. While deathdays go by almost unnoticed, though they mark the end of a story we know by heart.

Maybe it feels too heavy and too sad. But sadness doesn’t cancel out joy. It sits beside it. And if birthdays are about beginnings, why can’t deathdays be about the whole complete story?

The legacy left behind?

So when that date comes around next…make the day theirs again, not just for the loss, but for the love that never went anywhere.

Gary Sturgis -

05/21/2025

For those who have been impacted by dementia…

Join Northwoods Caregivers for a meaningful morning as we walk to raise awareness for Alzheimer's and dementia.

📅 Date: Saturday, May 31
🕘 Time: 9:00–11:00 AM (Registration starts at 8:30 AM)
📍 Location: The Sanford Center

Come together with us to honor memories, share stories, and support those affected by Alzheimer’s and dementia. Let’s walk side by side - raising awareness, offering hope, and supporting one another on this journey.

Everyone is welcome!
Questions, please call 218-333-8264

05/16/2025

Anticipatory grief is a quiet, complicated ache. It’s grieving someone who’s still here, loving them while already missing them. It sneaks into the everyday moments—conversations, glances, memories that haven’t even happened yet. It’s heavy and confusing, and sometimes it feels like you’re mourning in advance while trying to stay present. If you’re in it, you’re not alone.

05/01/2025

What's "normal" in grief? Because we don't usually talk about the realities of grief, most people aren't aware of the many forms grief takes. Normal grief covers a lot of territory. If it's in the body or the mind — grief affects it.

Remember, "normal" in this context means typical and experienced by many people, not that what you're experiencing doesn't suck.

This list covers some of the most common expressions of grief, but it's definitely not everything. While your "symptoms" might feel weird to you, whatever you're experiencing, chances are someone else has felt it too.

Want a free copy of this infographic to keep or give to someone else? Go to https://refugeingrief.com/articles/am-i-normal

IMPORTANT NOTE: If you're at all concerned about any physical symptoms, please speak to your doctor or healthcare advisor. Just because symptoms CAN be grief-related doesn't automatically mean they actually are.⁣⁣

02/21/2025

This is an important distinction to understand in grief.

01/01/2025

12/31/2024

I think this is beautiful and could be so healing! A resource to consider as we head into this new year facing the absence of a loved one.

11/24/2024

Grief is much more all encompassing than missing the person who has died. Can you relate to these other facets of grief? What would you add to this list?

11/03/2024

Grief is not just the loss of the person you love. It is so many secondary losses that accompany that loss.

09/26/2024