National Grief Awareness Day: You Don’t Have to Grieve Alone
Hey Operation Flourish Fam! 💛
Today, August 30, is National Grief Awareness Day: a day dedicated to bringing awareness to grief, encouraging conversations about loss, and reminding people who are hurting that they don't have to walk through it alone. The observance was founded in 2014 by grief advocate Angie Cartwright following her own experiences with loss.
And here's something important we want to remember today:
Grief doesn't have an age limit.
Children grieve.
Teenagers grieve.
Young adults grieve.
Parents grieve.
Grandparents grieve.
And sometimes, we grieve without even realizing that's what we're experiencing.
Grief is a deeply human response to loss, and it doesn't always look like tears or sadness. It can look like anger, confusion, anxiety, numbness, exhaustion, withdrawal, or even laughter.
💔 What Can Cause Grief?
When we hear the word grief, we often immediately think about losing someone we love. And certainly, the death of a family member, friend, or beloved pet can bring tremendous grief.
But death isn't the only thing we grieve. People can experience grief after:
Losing a loved one or pet
Divorce or the end of a relationship
A friendship ending
Moving away from family or friends
Changing schools
Losing a job or career
Financial hardship
A serious illness or health change
Losing independence or physical abilities
A major life transition
Experiencing trauma
Losing a dream or future we imagined
Becoming an empty nester
Losing a sense of identity or routine
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) describes grief as a response to loss that can include emotional, mental, and physical reactions. This loss can include relationships, identity, illness, and other major life changes.
Sometimes we even experience anticipatory grief, grieving something before it happens, such as when someone we love receives a serious diagnosis.
🧸 How Does Grief Look in Children?
Children don't always have the words to say, "I'm grieving."
Instead, they may:
Become more clingy
Have trouble sleeping
Experience nightmares
Become unusually quiet
Have more tantrums or emotional outbursts
Have trouble concentrating
Return to behaviors they've previously outgrown
Become worried about other loved ones dying
Have changes in eating habits
Seem completely fine one moment and heartbroken the next
And remember, children may grieve in short bursts. A child might cry about Grandma and then five minutes later ask for a snack and want to play. That doesn't mean they don't understand the loss. It means they're processing it in a way that makes sense for their developmental stage. For children, simple honesty, reassurance, routine, and opportunities to talk or express feelings through drawing, play, stories, or memories can be incredibly helpful.
🎒 What About Teens?
Teenagers are navigating an already complicated period of life. Add grief to the mix, and things can feel overwhelming.
A grieving teen might:
Pull away from family
Spend more time alone
Become irritable or angry
Have changes in grades or school attendance
Lose interest in activities
Sleep significantly more or less
Experience anxiety
Become unusually emotional
Act like they don't care
Turn to friends instead of family for support
One of the most important things we can do for grieving teens is give them permission to feel whatever they're feeling without judgment. Don't assume they need you to fix it. Sometimes they just need someone to sit beside them and say: "I'm here. You don't have to talk, but if you want to, I'm listening."
💛 Grief in Adults
Adults often feel pressure to keep going.
There are bills to pay.
Children to care for.
Jobs to show up for.
Households to manage.
Sometimes adults become so focused on taking care of everyone else that they forget they are grieving too.
Adult grief can show up as:
Sadness or crying
Anger or frustration
Anxiety
Guilt
Difficulty concentrating
Fatigue
Changes in sleep
Changes in appetite
Social withdrawal
Feeling emotionally numb
Losing interest in things you once enjoyed
And sometimes grief looks like functioning perfectly on the outside while falling apart on the inside. If that's you, please hear this: You don't have to be strong every minute of every day.
🌻 Grief in Older Adults
Older adults may experience multiple losses throughout their lives: spouses, siblings, friends, pets, homes, routines, mobility, independence, or familiar communities.
Their grief may sometimes be overlooked because people assume, "They've been through this before." But grief doesn't become less real simply because someone has experienced loss before.
An older adult may benefit tremendously from companionship, meaningful conversation, maintaining routines, participating in familiar activities, and having opportunities to share memories.
Sometimes the greatest gift is simply showing up consistently.
🌊 Are There "Stages" of Grief?
You've probably heard of the five stages of grief:
Denial
Anger
Bargaining
Depression
Acceptance
These stages come from the work of psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross and are widely known. But here's the important part:
Grief is not a checklist.
You don't necessarily experience each stage, and you don't necessarily experience them in order.
Modern grief research emphasizes that grief is not linear. People may move back and forth between emotions, experience several emotions at once, or have days when they feel okay followed by a difficult day.
Think of grief more like waves than steps.
Some days the waves may be gentle.
Other days, they may knock you off your feet.
And that's okay.
🌱 So, What Does Healing Look Like?
Healing doesn't mean forgetting. It doesn't mean you're "over it." And it doesn't mean you stop missing someone or wishing things had been different. Healing can mean learning how to carry the loss while continuing to live your life.
Some helpful steps can include:
Give yourself permission to feel.
Sadness, anger, guilt, relief, confusion, and even moments of happiness can all exist together.
Talk about it.
Find someone safe who will listen without trying to rush you through your feelings.
Take care of your body.
Eat when you can, rest, drink water, get outside, and move your body when you're able.
Keep meaningful connections.
Isolation can make grief feel even heavier. Let trusted people walk beside you.
Create ways to remember.
Write a letter. Make a scrapbook. Listen to a favorite song. Visit a special place. Cook a favorite meal. Tell stories.
Give yourself time.
There is no universal deadline for grief. For many people, grief becomes less intense over time, but there is no single timetable for everyone.
Ask for professional help when you need it.
Grief can become overwhelming. A therapist, grief counselor, support group, or other mental health professional can provide additional support.
🤍 How Can We Help Someone Who Is Grieving?
This might be the most important question of all.
We don't need perfect words. We need presence.
Instead of saying:
"Everything happens for a reason."
"They're in a better place."
"You need to move on."
"At least they lived a long life."
Try:
"I'm here for you."
"You don't have to go through this alone."
"I remember them too."
"Would you like to talk about it?"
"I don't know what to say, but I care about you."
And don't just check in once. Grief doesn't disappear after the funeral, after the first week, or after everyone else returns to normal life. Keep checking in. Send the text. Make the phone call. Drop off dinner. Invite them for coffee. Sit quietly with them. Remember important dates. Say their loved one's name.
And if they're not ready to talk? That's okay too. Sometimes love looks like simply sitting beside someone in the silence.
🌸 Let's Make Room for Grief
Here at Operation Flourish, we talk a lot about growth, wellness, resilience, and becoming the best version of ourselves.
But flourishing doesn't mean life is always happy. Sometimes flourishing means learning how to keep growing through the hard seasons, too.
It means recognizing that grief is not weakness. It is not something to be embarrassed about. It is not something we should rush. And it certainly isn't something anyone should have to experience alone.
Whether you're a child missing a pet, a teenager grieving a friendship, a parent grieving a loved one, or an older adult navigating an entirely different chapter of life:
Your grief matters.
Your feelings matter.
Your story matters.
And you are worthy of support.
So today, let's make a little more room for the people who are hurting. Let's listen a little longer. Let's check in a little more often. Let's remember that behind the smile, the busy schedule, or the "I'm fine" may be someone carrying a loss we can't see.
Let's choose compassion. Let's choose connection. Let's choose to show up. 💛
Cheerfully yours,
🌻 Kayla Myers 🌻
P.S. Call to Action: Think of one person in your life who may be carrying a loss right now. Don't wait for them to reach out. Send the text. Make the call. Invite them for coffee. Tell them you're thinking about them. And if you're the one grieving, reach out to someone you trust and let them know you could use a little extra support. Then share this post, because someone in your circle may need the reminder that they don't have to grieve alone. 💛
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