Author Archives: Kelly 🌻

Helping children feel safe after a loss

When a child experiences the death of someone they love, their sense of safety can feel shaken. Even if they cannot fully understand what has happened, they often sense the emotional change around them. This article offers gentle, practical guidance for helping children feel secure, supported and held during grief. Why Safety Matters Children need...

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How professionals can use Life, Without You

Guidance for therapists, counsellors, hospitals, hospices and bereavement organisations in the UK and US. Life, Without You is a gentle, guided journal written for parents and families grieving the loss of a baby, child or teenager. Its structured prompts help remove the pressure of a blank page, offering a way in when words feel hard...

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How professionals can use The Dragonfly Story

Guidance for schools, hospitals, hospices and counselling services in the UK and US. The Dragonfly Story is widely used by teachers, counsellors, paediatric teams and bereavement organisations who need a gentle, age-appropriate way to help children understand death. Its soft imagery and clear language make difficult conversations feel safer, calmer and more manageable. A note...

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Supporting a bereaved parent at Christmas

This time of year can be fraught with emotion and grief for those who have lost loved ones, particularly if that death is of a child. For those whose birthdays are also this side of Christmas, it can seem like a double grief. Memories of Christmas past, thoughts of Christmas present, and worries for Christmas...

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How to talk to children about death: tips for parents

Talking to children about death is probably one of the hardest conversations you’ll ever have. Yet, it is a conversation most of us will be forced to have at some point in our lives. I certainly wasn’t prepared to tell my children their sister had died, and I quickly learned that the romantic way these...

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A letter to my daughter on her 24th heavenly birthday

To Abi, It’s suddenly your 24th birthday and each year it hits me a bit different. This year, I realised that you are now the same age I was when I had you. It’s been hard to balance that fact in my mind. At once I am transported back to those heady, happy days of...

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What on earth do I say to a bereaved mum? It’s simple, STALL

It can seem like there’s plenty of advice about what not to do when it comes to grief. I’ve written a number of emotional posts about how some people get it ‘wrong’ when talking (or not!) to a beavered parent, such as this one and this one. While my rants are only one element of...

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Abi’s 21st birthday – heartache and heaven

It’s been three years since I’ve shared anything on here, and it’s over eight years now since Abi died, and the pain of loss is always there. Perhaps not so obviously now, but it lives in the restless nights, the stomach aches, the sudden pangs of sorrow or angry outburst. Her 21st birthday is around...

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Cultivating joy in grief

Christians often talk a lot about finding joy in life’s difficulties and I always wondered what that meant and how on earth it was even possible. Surely God is playing games with us if He expects us to celebrate our suffering?! But I’ve begun to discover for myself what this truly means (and I mean...

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