Grief Archives » Evermore

PAUSE: Producing Safe, Culturally-Specific, Expert-Informed Grief and End-of-Life Resources Across America

Community, Family, GriefBy em March 18, 2024

PAUSE: Producing Safe, Culturally-Specific, Expert-Informed Grief and End-of-Life Resources Across America How three Black-led grief organizations are building resources for communities of color through education and conversations. By Nora Biette-Timmons In the summer of 2020, after the police killing of George Floyd sparked nationwide protests over entrenched racism and inequality, Alica Forneret paused to make…

Bo-Hawg & Evermore, A Love Story: A Deep-Fried Meaning Found in Grief

Community, Family, GriefBy Evermore February 23, 2024

Bo-Hawg & Evermore, A Love Story: A Deep-Fried Meaning Found in Grief How Bo-Hawg owner Greenberry Taylor injected Evermore into Pig Fish’s DNA By Greenberry Taylor Grease popping, no breeze, standing in direct sunlight, lifting coolers with 50 pounds of grouper, hands coated in cornmeal and batter, and a heat index of 107. Ah, those…

Beyond Beats: Hip-Hop’s Journey Through 50 Years of Grief

Community, GriefBy Evermore February 12, 2024

Beyond Beats Hip-Hop’s Journey Through 50 Years of Grief By Nora Biette-Timmons Last year, American culture celebrated 50 years of hip-hop. At the 2023 Grammys, some of the genre’s most legendary performers—Missy Elliot, Busta Rhymes, Ice T, Method Man—performed snippets of their groundbreaking songs in an exhilarating, 13-minute mash-up performance. The facade of the…

Visionary & Trailblazing Attorney Kenneth Feinberg Offers Five Reflections On Bereavement

Advocacy, Community, Family, Federal Government, GriefBy Evermore September 10, 2023 Leave a comment

Visionary & Trailblazing Attorney Kenneth Feinberg Offers Five Reflections On Bereavement After serving thousands of families, victim compensation attorney Kenneth Feinberg offers five reflections on grief and bereavement. By Joyal Mulheron with support from Maddie Cohen Visionary and trailblazing attorney Kenneth Feinberg has long been called upon by U.S. presidents, families, and survivors…

Advocating for Change: How One Man Secured Bereavement Leave for Hundreds of Thousands of Johnson & Johnson Employees Globally

Advocacy, Community, Family, FMLA, Grief, ParentBy Evermore September 2, 2023 116 Comments

A Grieving Parent Turns Pain into a Purpose Following the death of his teenaged son, Blake, Tom Barklage fought to secure bereavement leave for Johnson & Johnson employees around the world By Maddie Cohen After his son Blake died, Tom Barklage took time off to make space for his grief. Little did he know…

National Bereaved Parents Awareness Month: Living with Grief

Family, Grief, ParentBy Evermore July 13, 2023 1 Comment

By Cynthia Prestidge Grief teaches a mother lessons she never wanted to learn My husband Brad came home to tell me what he had learned minutes earlier. Sarah is gone… Our Sarah-Grace. Our beautiful 24-year-old daughter. Dead. With three words and within mere seconds, I was shattered, gutted, disoriented. Any word that implies destruction,…

Five Books on Grief and Loss

Advocacy, Community, Family, Grief, ResearchBy Evermore June 29, 2023

By Terri Schexnayder Five new releases have landed in bookstores and audible programs recently. Each one delivers the topics of grief and loss through unflinching honesty with the author’s personal story—some even include moments of humor. We encourage you to read and share with bereaved family and friends these selected books. Dina Gachman’s…

Pride Month Spotlight: Jason Edwards

Advocacy, Community, Family, GriefBy Evermore June 29, 2023

By Jena Kirkpatrick Jason Edwards grew up in the small town of Graham in West Texas where being gay was not accepted. Pegged as the class ‘gay boy,’ he was bullied relentlessly. His dad tried to spark his interest in sports and Edwards recalled being out on the field spinning around like Wonder Woman. “I…

ACT NOW: Is Grief Normative or a Diagnosable Condition?

Advocacy, Appropriations, Federal Government, GriefBy Evermore May 12, 2023

Open for comment until 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday June 2, 2023 One of the most hotly debated topics in bereavement care is whether all grief is normative or a diagnosable condition. For the first time, the federal government is beginning to examine scientific evidence on when grief is normative and when, if ever, does…

National Poetry Month: How Poets Pen The Grief Experience

Community, Family, GriefBy Evermore April 12, 2023 Leave a comment

Across America, powerful imagery and musical cadence ring out in coffee shops and onto the page during National Poetry Month. Launched by the Academy of American Poets in April 1996, the month-long recognition celebrates the poets’ integral role in our culture and society. We are reminded that poetry matters. Evermore’s very own Jena Kirkpatrick (editor…

Distinguished Author & Poet Naomi Shihab Nye Shares Her Poem On Grief, “Old Friend”

Community, Family, GriefBy Evermore April 12, 2023 4 Comments

Dear Friends unknown, We are joined together by so many things in grief. Maybe there’s a luminous cord connecting us through sleepless hours and hardest times. The poet Jack Ridl told me years ago, after my father died, “Grief is an ambush. When you’re least expecting it, it rises up again…” Poetry is a close…

Renowned Poet Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer Honors the Nuances of Grief In Her Poem, “I Want to Listen to Your Absence”

Community, Family, GriefBy Evermore April 11, 2023 5 Comments

Before my son Finn died, I already had a daily writing practice in place. The day he died was the first night I hadn’t written a poem in over thirteen years. And then I didn’t write at all for the first seven weeks after his death. I suppose on the surface then it would look…

National Poetry Slam Champion Regie Gibson Pens a Letter of Grief to His Father, “Letter to My Father”

Community, Family, GriefBy Evermore April 11, 2023 3 Comments

Losing anyone in your life affects EVERYTHING in your life. Your perspectives shift. You question your own mortality. Losing someone close to you makes you feel like a raw nerve in a world of razor-wire. Everything hurts. Losing my dad just before becoming a father, seemed extra-ordinarily cruel and ironic. But, contemplating that cruel…

Oklahoma Poet Laureate Nathan Brown Says Less Is More When Talking About Grief In His Poem “Nevertheless, It Moves”

Community, Family, GriefBy Evermore April 11, 2023 3 Comments

I lost a best friend, fellow vagabond, and gifted poet to a long battle with cancer. We traveled and performed together for years. We joked over homemade-hotel-room drinks about how the $31 we raked in from the donations for the night’s house concert, or whatever it was we could drum up, weren’t even enough to…

Notable Poet Brady Peterson Speaks About the Acceptance of Grief In His Poem, “He Checks His Luggage”

Community, Family, GriefBy Evermore April 10, 2023 2 Comments

First, I have lived long enough to have outlived most of the people who were important to me when I was young. My parents died years ago. My younger brother died three years ago. All but one of my aunts and uncles have died. Cousins have died. Many close friends have died. At this point,…

Acclaimed Troubadour and Poet Beth Wood Writes About the Vulnerability of Grief In Her Poem, “LESS HEAVY THINGS”

Community, Family, GriefBy Evermore April 10, 2023 19 Comments

My own loss and the deep grief that accompanies it brought about profound change in the way I experience creativity. Deep loss breaks you down in a way that also cracks you open. There is loss of control and surrender. Tears and sorrow pour out, but light also pours in. I learned to listen to…

Five Important Questions About FMLA and Bereavement Leave

Family, Federal Government, FMLA, GriefBy Evermore April 5, 2023 3 Comments

By Prerna Shah When a loved one dies, many family members seek bereavement leave to attend to family affairs, their grief, and sort through the many changes that invisibly unfold behind closed doors. It may be surprising to learn that most employees have no legal right to take leave, except in five states in…

Good Ole’ Country Music Always Has a Place for Grief

Community, Family, Grief, ParentBy Evermore March 30, 2023 2 Comments

By Terri Schexnayder Country music’s familiar heart-tugging lyrics of country-western ballads about cheating, love lost, and traveling roads in pickup trucks always seems to have a place for grief. Hits are littered with songs about love, death, grief, and faith as artists share their feelings and coping strategies ranging from tears to whiskey. Steve…

A Little-Known Economic Benefit for Bereaved Children

Family, Federal Government, GriefBy Evermore March 10, 2023 Leave a comment

By Terri Schexnayder Often when someone dies, we seek to support the grieving family in a meaningful way. In a sign of solidarity and love, we attend memorials or funerals, send condolences, prepare meals, and sometimes participate in athletic events or donate to fundraisers for a related cause. When a child or teenager loses…

The Bereaved Parents — Who Are Presidents — That Lead Our Nation

Family, Grief, ParentBy Evermore February 19, 2023 Leave a comment

By Terri Schexnayder For millions of people living in America, the death of a child is a tragedy that silently unites many, even presidents. President Joseph R. Biden Jr. has cited his son’s death, Beau, as motivation to run for president and has shared his reflections and experiences on grief and loss in many…

In Black Communities, Homegoing Rituals Honor the Dead and the Living Through a Blend of African and Christian Traditions

Community, Family, GriefBy Evermore January 31, 2023 43 Comments

By Brittiny Moore Whether at a small church, or one that seats thousands, Black funerals – or homegoing celebrations – are expressions of mourning that honor Black life, love, and community. Homegoing celebrations are a fixture in Black communities, and elaborate and festive rituals that blend African ancestry with the Christian religion. During the…

A Year in Review 2022: Advancements in Bereavement Care

Advocacy, Appropriations, Community, Data Collection, Family, Federal Government, Grief, ResearchBy Evermore December 20, 2022 1 Comment

In 2022, our community of supporters has grown by more than 50 percent for the second consecutive year. Our movement consists of people from every corner of America – from truck drivers to professors to homeschoolers and executives. We unite in solidarity to create a more compassionate world for those who will follow us. What…

Best Books for Kids and Teens on Death, Grief, and Bereavement

Community, Family, GriefBy Evermore December 12, 2022 1 Comment

This list was developed in collaboration with Dr. Donna Gaffney, an expert in children’s grief. A tragic event is difficult to comprehend for even the most mature, knowledgeable adult. For children and adolescents faced with trying to understand such an overwhelming experience, the task is even more daunting. How can a young person grasp…

Few Universities Offer Leave Policies and Grief Support for Bereaved Students

Advocacy, Community, Grief, ResearchBy Evermore November 7, 2022 2 Comments

It was the beginning of her junior year at the University of South Carolina (UofSC) when Mairead Peters’ cousin unexpectedly passed away. Not only was Peters just getting settled into her new class schedule, she was now forced to navigate the school year while wading through the shock and pain of her grief. The following…

Dr. Emily Smith-Greenaway Shares Research on Bereavement’s Far-Reaching Impacts

Data Collection, Family, Grief, Parent, ResearchBy Evermore October 31, 2022 2 Comments

Earlier this month, Evermore hosted a conversation with Dr. Emily Smith-Greenaway, a grief and bereavement researcher in California and associate professor of sociology and spatial sciences at the University of Southern California, to discuss her research on bereaved people and her work on the COVID-19 bereavement multiplier. The bereavement multiplier is a tool used to…

Three Very Different (Yet Similar) Stories of Pregnancy and Infant Loss

Community, Family, Grief, ParentBy Evermore October 24, 2022 Leave a comment

Since October is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month – which aims to bring more acknowledgement and recognition to the grief, stress, and hardship parents experience after a miscarriage or the death of a newborn baby – we decided to share three stories of loss to contextualize this unique, and challenging maternal experience. According to…

Can Working with a Medium Help You Connect With a Lost Loved One?

Community, Family, Grief, ParentBy Evermore October 17, 2022 1 Comment

Jena Kirkpatrick with her son, Ellis McClane. Jena Kirkpatrick was hesitant to visit a medium after experiencing the death of her 19-year-old son, Ellis McClane, who died in a car accident in 2011. But five years after her loss, Jena decided to take a chance and scheduled an appointment. “That’s something everyone wants for the…

Bereavement Is Not Simply a Mental Health Issue

Family, Grief, ResearchBy Evermore September 13, 2022 2 Comments

Experiencing the death of a loved one can be one of the most traumatic and painful experiences someone can face in life. Such losses can be overwhelming, resulting in intense and difficult emotions of sadness, emptiness, shock, and despair. The bereavement process that conjoins grief — the handling of a loved one’s affairs, the navigation…

How Many People in America Have Lost a Loved One?

COVID, Data Collection, Federal Government, Grief, ResearchBy Evermore September 6, 2022 3 Comments

Just How Many People In America Have Lost A Loved One? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is one of the nation’s most-trusted, science-based sources of data on public health in the United States. For more than 70 years, this government agency has been monitoring the nation’s health landscape and providing guidance to…

Why Is Our Nation So Far Behind in Grief and Bereavement Services and Policies?

Community, Family, GriefBy Evermore August 30, 2022 3 Comments

Why Is Our Nation So Far Behind In Grief and Bereavement Services and Policies? National Grief Awareness Day — observed annually on August 30 — was created by Angie Cartwright, who’s experienced immense grief in her life after the loss of her baby sister, newlywed husband, and mother. She helped establish this day of awareness…

With Teacher Shortages, Community Programs for Grieving Kids Are More Important Than Ever

Community, Family, GriefBy Evermore August 18, 2022 1 Comment

With Teacher Shortages, Community Programs for Grieving Kids Are More Important Than Ever With the back to school season in full swing, all of us with students in our homes have probably heard about the critical shortage of teachers. Reports say that our country lacks a whopping 300,000 teachers and support staff. In an…

The Time Is Now to Invest in Grieving Young People

Community, Family, GriefBy Evermore August 12, 2022 2 Comments

The Time Is Now to Invest in Grieving Young People Recently, NPR covered a fascinating club for teenage students experiencing the death of a parent. The article follows the story of a high school sophomore named Elizabeth, whose father passed from COVID-19 last year. More than anything, this reporting shows that the time is now…

Calling All Working Parents! Congress Is Listening

Advocacy, Community, Family, Grief, VolunteerBy Evermore August 1, 2022 2 Comments

Close the Loophole! – Universal Paid Leave Should Include Bereavement Leave Due Monday, August 15th! Earlier this year, you made phone calls, sent emails, called your friend in order to add paid bereavement leave to our nation’s policy conversations. You did it and it was the first time Washington included paid bereavement leave to…

Become Part of the Solution to America’s Bereavement Crisis

Advocacy, Community, Family, GriefBy Evermore November 19, 2021 5 Comments

Grief is a powerful dual-edged emotion that can result in a dull, undulating pain which can be paralyzing and suffocating or, if channeled appropriately, can swell into rage and anger that moves each of us — or societies — to do things that once seemed impossible. Such collective grief, outrage and injustice sparked the “fierce…

Concentric Circles of Grief: DC Exhibit Honors COVID-19 Victims

Advocacy, COVID, Family, GriefBy Evermore September 29, 2021 Leave a comment

For 25 years, visual artist Suzanne Brennan Firstenberg has comforted families in mourning as a hospice volunteer. And with each new family she’s consoled came lessons about the scope of grief, its impact, and the lack of spaces for people to express their deep sorrow. Firstenberg brings those experiences to her latest work — a…

New Documentary Spotlights Grief and How to Talk About It

Community, GriefBy Evermore April 27, 2020

The creators behind a new documentary set to air on public media channels across the country in May want to start a national conversation about a topic that many shy away from — grief. The goals for “Speaking Grief” are twofold: to validate the experience of grief through the stories of those mourning the death…

A Year in Review 2019: Steps Forward in Bereavement Care

Grief, AdvocacyBy Evermore December 20, 2019

As another decade comes to a close and Evermore marks its fifth year working to improve bereavement care in the United States, we have reason to celebrate 2019. Here at Evermore, we made big strides toward building our team and raising awareness about the need to support grieving parents. Meanwhile, across the country, new initiatives…

Getting Bereaved Kids the Help They Need

Grief, AdvocacyBy Evermore September 24, 2019

Julie Kaplow, on the left, serves as the Director of the Trauma and Grief Center in Houston, Texas, will be launching the Handle with Care program for children who have witnessed a death. In August we are focusing on “Back to School” at Evermore. We are giving focus to siblings who have suffered the death…