Sundays Mar 1 / 8 / 15, 8pm
Nov. 16th special
If you were dying, how would you tell your kids? What do children need to know? How can you help them grieve, and live? These are some of the questions we'll address on a special edition of "Your Voice". On Sunday November 16th, host Cheryl Jackson will be joined by a panel of experts, including Dr. Christine Newman, a palliative care physician, Stephen Jenkinson, a counselor to the dying, Lisa Marucci, a psychotherapist who works with families in trauma, and Patty Dann, author of "The Goldfish Went On Vacation", which tells the story of how she and her son coped when her husband was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. You can listen to the discussion, ask the panel your questions, and participate in a live chat. The evening
begins at 8pm eastern with the film
"The Mummy Diaries", and the
discussion follows immediately
after, both on TV and online,
at tvoparents.com.
learn more >>
The following organizations and professionals offer grief and bereavement services and programs for children and/or young adults; many provide bereavement support services for adults. Please check individual links for more information.
Bereaved Families of Ontario - Regional affiliates offer support after the loss of an infant, a child, an adult child, a parent, a brother or a sister, an adult sibling, a grandchild or a spouse.
Coping (Caring for Other People in Grief) Centre - Provides help and encouragement to anyone experiencing grief; has branches in southwestern Ontario and Alberta.
see moreThe following organizations and websites provide support in hospice palliative care, grief education and bereavement.
Alliance Hospice - Provides support to adults dealing with advanced illness, death and bereavement.
Benjamin's Park Memorial Chapel - Outlines mourning customs that pertains to the Jewish faith.
Bereavement Ontario Network - A group of organizations and individuals that work in grief and bereavement across the province.
see moreThe Mummy Diaries follows five extraordinary British families where the mothers are living with the knowledge that they have been diagnosed with incurable cancer and face the daunting challenge of how much to communicate to their children. The families include a family with teenagers, who have lived with their mum having cancer for much of their lives, a mother with two very young children, whose illness has progressed rapidly and a mum who now faces a more hopeful future following an initial diagnosis of only a few months to live.
Throughout the process, the mothers are writing ‘Mummy Manuals’ on everything from schooling, health, relationships and even sex education, to advise loved ones on how they want their family to live when they are no longer there to guide them. The mothers find themselves facing all the usual parenting dilemmas, often years in advance, as they try to envisage what they would be saying to their children if they were still there to do so. Even the most trivial domestic scenario can take on an extraordinary significance.
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The mothers are also creating poignant memory boxes and are filling them with photos and mementos to help remind their children of happy times and to help the very youngest have some knowledge of their mother.
Guiding them through the process is Julie Stokes, a clinical psychologist and founder of child bereavement charity Winston’s Wish. Throughout the series Julie helps the children and parents to talk about what is happening in their family and gives the children challenges to help them express their emotions. Julie says, "My job's about really trying to help a mother prepare her children for the fact she may not be there to see them grow up and in doing so help create a real treasure trove of memories so that they can feel connected to her and the love she had for them for the rest of their lives."
Sadly, during the course of the series, some of the mothers lose their battle against cancer. The series also follows these families as they try to continue with their lives, following their loss.
A gallery of images showing the therapeutic value of art in a child's grieving process.
Lifetimes: the Beautiful Way to Explain Death to Children. Bryan Mellonie & Robert Ingpen, Bantam Books, 1983 - Beginnings and endings in the natural world - from plants and animals to people - in simple text and with beautiful illustrations.
courtesy: Parentbooks
I Miss You: A First Look at Death. Pat Thomas, Barron’s Educational Series Inc., 2000 - A simple, reassuring and realistic picture book for young children by a psychotherapist and counselor. With interactive prompts and a parent instructional.
courtesy: Parentbooks
When Dinosaurs Die: A Guide to Understanding Death. Laurie Krasny Brown & Marc Brown, Little, Brown & Company, 1996 - Not a story, but a series of scenes featuring dialogues among dinosaur children, parents and grandparents about all aspects of death.
courtesy: Parentbooks
Sad Isn’t Bad: A Good-Grief Guidebook for Kids Dealing With Loss. Michaelene Mundy, Illustrated by R.W. Alley, Abbey Press, 1998 - Grieving children need to know they’re safe, that they need to talk, that they can take their time…that life will be okay again after loss. An "Elf-help" book.
courtesy: Parentbooks
Tough Topics: Death. Patricia Murphy, Heinemann Library, 2008 - Color photographs and simple text explore the feelings of grieving a loved one: Saying goodbye, celebrating a life, sadness, anger, loneliness, getting help and remembering.
courtesy: Parentbooks
A Complete Book About Death for Kids. Earl Grollman & Joy Johnson, Centering Corporation, 2006 - Evocative black and white photos and a gentle voice detail death and feelings, funerals and cemeteries and cremation. Grollman and Johnson have perfect pitch.
courtesy: Parentbooks
Living Dying: A Guide for Adults Supporting Grieving Children and Teenagers. Ceilidh Eaton Russell, Max and Beatrice Wolfe Centre for Children's Grief and Palliative Care, 2006 - Provides valuable and useful information for parents and caregivers, available from the Max and Beatrice Wolfe Centre for Children's Grief and Palliative Care.
Teens, Loss, and Grief: the Ultimate Teen Guide.Edward Myers, illustrated by Kelly Adams, The Scarecrow Press, 2006 - a self-help guide for teenagers who are experiencing bereavement and the emotional difficulties it presents.
courtesy: Parentbooks