The Compassionate Friends

And by 1998, they said there's no evidence of higher divorce rates amongst bereaved parents.

So, and then if you're familiar with Compassionate Friends, they did a survey and they, you know, they surveyed about 15,000 parents that lost a child about this issue.

And they said it wasn't there.

You know, the divorce rates were better, you know, because there's this protective factor.

Hospice organizations almost always run free bereavement groups, open to the community, whether or not your loved one was in hospice.

If you lost a child, there is an organization called the Compassionate Friends, which exists solely for parents and families grieving a child, and their chapters meet across the country.

There is something particular that happens in a room of people who understand your specific loss without needing it explained.

For disenfranchised grief, the losses our culture does not recognize easily, like a close friend, an ex-partner, an estranged parent, or a death from addiction, a group can be the first place your grief gets treated as real.

Or if you're ready for more, look into a grief group.

There are several well-established options.

The Compassionate Friends is a national organization that supports families after the death of a child, and they run local chapters and online communities where you can sit with people who understand this specific loss without anyone expecting you to explain it.

Grief Share is a faith-based program that offers structured, small group sessions in churches around the country, usually built around a video series and discussion, and many people find the predictable weekly shape of it steadying.

Today, Stacey Parker joins me again to explore the spiritual shifts that can unfold after heartbreak.

Her daughter Alyssa's death in 1997 led her into decades of grief support, including leadership with the Compassionate Friends, volunteering with children's hospice organizations, and training as a grief educator with David Kessler.

She's been a guest on Open to Hope and wrote Grief as a Second Language, which has helped so many people understand that love continues.

Together, we'll talk about connection, meaning, and the unexpected spiritual growth that grief can unlock.

What are some things you learned from David because this is a man who really embodies helping others in the areas of grief and it's part of his whole lifestyle.

Yeah.

So I actually met David at a compassionate friends conference.

His mama died when he was young, but then his son passed away several years ago.

And so it's something that I needed to fix within myself and get it together as quickly as possible so you could help, help your parents.

And it wasn't until, I remember, I, around the holidays, the holidays just really amplifies [laughs] like all the grief and everything, that I did find a sibling grief group specific to people who had lost a sibling to substance related causes, and I think this was through Compassionate Friends, if I remember correctly.

Can't remember right now.

But I remember that's the first time that I was actually able to feel and be in the company of people who I didn't have to explain myself to, and the things that they were saying could have come from me.