When Mai Richmond was 5 years old her father died from a two-year battle with cancer. She attended the Heartplay bereavement program, and it was the community and welcoming she needed to start to make sense of the world and her place in it. Mai was particularly influenced by the teen mentors in the program. In fact, she was so influenced that when her first grade teacher gave the "what do you want to be when you grow up" assignment Mai wrote "A grief counselor" When she aged out of the Heartplay program she became a teen mentor as a form of giving back. Now a senior in high school, Mai continues to give back.

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Julie Brennan is the founder and director of We Do Care, a grief and loss support center. The inspiration for Julie was that when she had a 3 year old and was 3 months pregnant, Julie got a knock on the door one night that no one ever wants to get; her husband was in a car crash and was killed. We Do Care offers Young Widows Connection groups, Social Connection Groups, Support services for children who have lost a parent and other special events.

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Today's episode is a rebroadcasted episode from back in October, in honor of Mark directing a play, Time Stand's Still, that's opening this week! (For more info and tickets to the upcoming shows in Reading, MA., please click here.)

The narrative as a play unfolds often has underpinnings of grief and/or non-death loss. Even in comedies! Sometimes, this is obvious and sometimes it's a bit more subtle. The entrance into the characters psyche in the live format that is theatre can be powerful. Also, the "audience as a group" can validate and break down any feelings of isolation the viewer may be having. Mark has been a local to Boston theatre director for over 20 years and in this episode he and Ken discuss the access and education we get into characters management of the loss.

Ken goes on the other side of the microphone to discuss his history of friend loss. Having had many friends die throughout his childhood and adolescence help to "install grief DNA" and set him on a career path of becoming a counselor.

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In the aftermath of a loss, as we are setting sail to parts unknown, we begin looking for a map. Where do we look? For over 70 years The Parmenter Foundation has been a charitable organization providing hope, support, and compassionate end-of-life care for those in the Boston Metrowest community. But more than that, Parmenter provides grants and resources for child and adolescent bereavement, hospice, pet loss as well as businesses facing loss, to name a few. In this episode, Ken talks with Parmenter's executive director Angela Crocker.

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We often romanticize adolescence as a time of growth, emerging adulthood, and challenging beliefs. What gets left behind in emerging teens is perhaps the innocence of the world being smaller, kinder, gentler. Some teens bridge this change through substance use. When the substance use takes over there is social, emotional, developmental and learning lags. Recovery also has it's own sense of losing the life, and friends and systems one had in place. Joelle Bush is school counselor at the Ostiguy Recovery High School in Boston and the 2021 recipient of the MASCA school counselor leadership award. Joelle and Ken discuss the process in this episode.

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Wildflower is a program that helps children rediscover life after a loss. Wildflower supports children throughout their childhood and adolescence to have a fun summer. The support is financial and emotional in helping children (and their widowed parent) shift the paradigm from challenges of an unstructured summer to the joys of a camp experience. Audrey is the Executive Director of Wildflower and discusses the process in this episode.

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Pamela has directed bereavement programs for children and teens throughout her professional life and in the course of this work emphasized and researched the concept of Post Traumatic Growth. PTG is a theory that aims to describe positive changes and transformations that can accompany a traumatic and tragic event. In this episode Pamela and Ken discuss her work in acknowledging that while the loss can never get smaller, the child's world can get bigger.

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Why is there an episode on a grief podcast with two brothers who run a boxing gym? In addition to the physical benefits from conditioning and exercise, gyms can be another place to find community. We know that having a community where one can feel a sense of belonging and connection can be highly therapeutic. With energy and passion Mark, Matt, and Ken discuss this concept.

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Why is there an episode on a grief podcast with an attorney? Among the many stressors, uncertainties and anxieties that come with loss the legal documentation can be another stressor (and sometimes nice distraction). In this episode Ken and Susan discuss documentation related to power-of-attorney, health care proxies as well as wills and estates. Susan is a partner in the firm of Brier, Marandett and Rossetti.

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