G - Grief Share

Theme: Grief Work and Healing Journey

Grief Share are meetings you can attend with other grieving individuals that are typically held at churches. The lessons and the workbook are Christian-related, but even people who aren't Christian can benefit from being around and talking to other people who understand, in some way, what you're feeling and going through. And if you're not Christian, you can just ignore what doesn't work for you or your faith.

There are other meetings you can attend other than Grief Share, but I'm talking about Grief Share because those are the meetings I'd found close to me and attended.

The first meeting I attended, I came in at Week 9 of 13.

During a 2-month break when the session ended, I used GriefShare.org/my to access the weeks I'd missed so I'd continue to have a lifeline during that 2-month break, which I badly needed considering my grief was fresh (just a month old).

NOTE: You can't access GriefShare.org/my unless you join a local group.

Most people attend the complete Grief Share cycles (all 13 weeks) two or three times before they feel that they have a real handle on their grief and are moving forward each day. I unfortunately was not able to continue going because I got a new job that made it impossible to attend.

What Are the Meetings Like?

I looked forward to these meetings each week. It was a way for me to get out of the house, see and be around people, and if I'd had a bad week since the last meeting, I knew I could talk to the two hosts.

The meetings began with a music video for an inspiring song, a member sharing a few pictures of their loved one(s) who had passed away, and a brief discussion of our "homework" from our workbooks if time permitted.

The main event of the meeting was the video content we'd all watch and take notes in our Grief Share workbooks. When the video ended, we'd take a short break. There was always baked goods and other snacks to enjoy that people brought in.

Following the video, we'd discuss what we'd just watched and share our thoughts, memories, and anything we were struggling with. Yes, there were tears. It's normal. I spoke a few times, and a couple of times I got choked up.

My first Meeting:

At my first meeting, they played a music video that started with the artist talking about her experience with COVID. She talked about having pneumonia and not being able to breathe and her breathing getting worse and worse each day. I was not anticipating that. Anything about pneumonia and not being able to breathe is a trigger for me because my mom had lung cancer. During her last year, she had recurring pneumonia and pleural effusions. And on her last day, her breathing suddenly did get worse and worse. During the video, I sobbed. Uncontrollably. The person sitting next to me wrapped an arm around my shoulders and rubbed my back, which made me breakdown more. But having that support was everything.

Workbook:

I love homework. I didn't when I was in school, but I do now, so I took my workbook seriously. After the video, there's five days of grief work you can complete. They start with a brief story about someone else who went through the grief journey. Then there's questions, accompanied with scripture. (Again, you can ignore that if you're not Christian.)

I particularly liked the final page located at the end of each week, which consisted of journal topics, the personal checkup chart where you can track your healing progress (emotionally, physically, spiritually, and relationally) for that week, and the "moving forward - practical steps toward healing" questions, prompts, and tips.

Journaling:

Soon after my first meeting, I started using a spiral notebook to journal about my grief journey. I use it for the prompts in the workbook and to write through my struggles. But it isn't just for the sad or hard times. I also use it to document the good moments. Inside you can find lists of gratitudes and even my A to Z topic list for this theme here.

Email:

Through GriefShare.org, I signed up for daily emails. "365 emails to help you through the grieving process." Basically, I was looking for anything and everything to help me through my grief. I started each day with reading those emails.

Fellowship Meetings:

The people who attended the Grief Share meetings also got together once or twice a week in the same location but on different days to provide the members with support and companionship between Grief Share meetings. They'd have lunch and talk (not necessarily about sad or hard things but good and joyful moments, too) and form friendships. I attended several of them when Grief Share went on their break before I got my job. It was nice being able to tell others what I was going through and have all of them genuinely care.

It was brief, but Grief Share and everything that came along with it was a lifeline for me.

ALL A TO Z POSTS:

A - ASMR

B - Beach

C - Church

D - Donating

E - Epistle (Letter from Heaven)

F - Facebook Posts

G - Grief Share