Category Archives: Life with grief

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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A letter to you on your sixteenth birthday 

I pause before even writing a word as the thought of you turning 16 in heaven breaks my heart all over again. I’m sorry sweetheart. I know you are safe, I feel that, but I feel so lost without you near me. You’re the one who is safe, I’m the one running scared. My mind...

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I should be organising your 16th birthday party

I’m at a loss. How do you ‘celebrate’ your child’s birthday when they are dead? I should be chasing around here and there, buying balloons, presents, sorting things out, baking an amazing cake. Instead I sit here and can only do these things in my head, while my stomach churns with longing and my eyes...

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Abi’s dragonflies

I’ve just been browsing an old computer file of Abi’s artwork… random stories, computer drawings and images saved over the years. How interesting to find a file called DRAGON FLYS. It was created on 9th February 2009 … wow … four years before Abi died. She would have been nine years old then. There’s no...

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Glossing over grief

‘Singing light songs to the heavyhearted is like pouring salt in their wounds.’ Proverbs 25:20 If I’ve learnt anything from grief it’s this. Whilst browsing Proverbs (The Message), this jumped out at me instantly (I find that happens a lot, I can open the Bible and a single sentence will catch my eye and mean...

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