An Inviation

  I’ve been working on a little project, and I think it’s time to start talking about it.

Since losing Jess, I’ve met so many people who are grieving. Some have just recently, while others have been carrying it for years or even decades. And in every single case, one thing keeps coming up:

No matter how long it’s been, people still want to talk about their person.

Grief is weird, though. We don’t always know when to bring someone up. We worry it’ll make things worse or reopen a wound. We’re often afraid to say the wrong thing. Afraid we’ll bring up the sadness. Afraid we’ll hurt someone by reminding them.

But here’s the thing: we’re never reminding them. We haven’t forgotten.

At Jessica’s celebration of life, Rob said, “We can’t be afraid of the J-word.”

And I’ve realized that’s true for every grieving person I’ve met.

We don’t want to be afraid of our person’s name. We look for reasons to say it!

So, I started quietly working on what I’m calling the Grief Heart Project.

It’s something you can wear (or post) if you want people to know:

“Hey, I’m carrying someone in my heart.”

Or even: “Ask me about them.”

Or, if you're the supportive type: “Tell me about your person.”

The symbol is a broken heart made of uneven pieces, like stained glass. The dark blue piece is symbolic of the hole they left behind. Flowers grow from the crack because when we share their stories, love still blooms.

It’s simple, but I really think it could make it easier for people to have the conversations we want to have, but don’t always know how to start.

Anyway, I’ll be sharing more soon—stickers, tips, and a little online space to connect.

If you have thoughts or ideas, I’d love to hear them.

#GriefHeartProject #StillTheirPerson #AskMeAboutThem

https://www.facebook.com/GriefHeartProject

Following up on my post from yesterday.

I'm declaring "WearYourHeartWednesday" as a regularly scheduled time to talk about the people we are missing. Of course, people are welcome to wear hearts on other days, but I think having a special day will help to normalize talking!

Join the fun and share about your loved ones! Tag and visit https://www.facebook.com/GriefHeartProject/ and use #WearYourHeartWednesday and #GriefHeartProject in your posts!