Talia's Story; Part 2

I felt really lucky to have found people who understand me and are my age and I thought that everyone who’s been through such a tough time should feel the same. Nobody should feel like they’re going through it on their own. It’s taken me 3 years and the grieving still isn’t over, but I came to a personal milestone where I felt ready to talk about what I had been through publicly.

I decided to make YouTube videos, discussing various topics around going through bereavement as a teenager, with my main goal being reassuring people that they aren't the only one who’s been through it. I talk about emotions, the funeral, what I like doing when I feel down and more. It feels good to get it off my chest AND help others… WIN WIN!

The way society is today makes people shy away from talking about death and I think it’s definitely time that changed. I think it’s so important that teens and young people reach out and support each other through the rough time none of us deserve. Which is why I hope my videos will help encourage people to speak out and live their life to the full instead of bottling up their emotions. 

What do you think schools could do to make things easier for bereaved young people?

Father's Day

Every year I see without fail the same patterns occur around Father's Day:

My peers and acquaintances getting flustered and edgy when it's mentioned because to them the date can't be brought up around me in case I burst into tears and become inconsolable.

In fact, most avoid the topic of my Father altogether for fear of a similar reaction. Truthfully though avoiding the topic of bereavement is understandable, whether or not it would provoke an emotional reaction, most people would just rather not take the risk.

Nevertheless, being a bereaved child is by no means the taboo that some regard it to be. Hopefully by sharing, talking and supporting each other we can help dispel such myths.

Patrick, guest blogger

Would you comment here about your first Mother/Father's Day without your parent?

Help us out in 50 words or less!

Grief can be very isolating, you can feel that no-one in the world understands what you are going through so you might as well keep it to yourself. That’s not true. Hope Again may be the place where you find the living proof from someone else who has been through it that you’ll be OK.

Could you help us populate this page with pieces of hope that might help someone else break through the isolation of grief?

      In 50 words or less comment here on what helped you discover that you would be OK, that you could hope again.