Children's Grief Awareness Day

In the US, one in seven individuals will lose a parent or sibling before the age of 20. Of course that statistic does not include the other children and teens who lose a primary caregiver, grandparent, aunt, uncle, cousin, best friend, or other important person in their life. Every school and every community has children who are grieving the loss of a lived one, who are coping with the fact that this loved one will not be there to see them grow-up and that they will not have the opportunity to make more memories with them.

I ask you to love and support these young people. And if you know someone (anyone) who has suffered a loss, please remember to just be there. Be there to listen when they need to talk, and be there when they'd rather sit in silence. Be there when they need to cry and when they want to laugh. The most important thing is to remind them that you're there, that you think of them, that you will always be there.

I am wearing blue today to raise awareness and to support children who have lost a loved one. Please join the effort to teach children how to grieve, heal and grow in healthy ways.