As we approach the holiday season, our grief reminds us that our lives have forever changed and that our loved one will forever be missing from the table. In learning how to live without them and in learning our new selves, we must also redefine the holidays. We discuss creating new traditions and/or modifying old traditions as well as suggestions to honor and remember our children/siblings during this time of joy and sorrow. Happy Holiday Season from our family to yours.

As we, and other family members, hit milestones in life, new triggers emerge. Again, we must learn how to live with our grief and learn how to process new emotions. It's the continuous journey of learning how to live a life without our child/sibling. Only those in our club can understand it- a different and new way of living. We keep their memories alive, so they are always with us during life's milestones.

Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) is a holiday that celebrates, honors, and remembers our loved ones who have passed on to the land of the dead. It is a joyous occasion in which altars are created using pictures and items such as your loved one's favorite books, drinks, food, etc. to tell their story for generations to come. It is a beautiful tradition that continues their legacy because we will never let them be forgotten, so let's celebrate them!

Having anxieties is another side effect of grief, so recognizing it and what triggers it is a part of the healing process. Aside from learning how to live without your child/sibling, there are many side effects of their death that we are forced to live with. Understanding this is key to our survival.

Sometimes during our healing journey, we have to remove ourselves from relationships in which a person may not understand your new self post the death of our child/sibling. We're forced to grieve those losses as well, but don't always write them all off because if that person is special in your life, then there's hope of reconnecting.