Navigating grief in your everyday life

  • Meditation 

  • Create or purchase mementos (picture, car decal, t-shirt, sweatshirt, yard sign, candle, garden stone, ornament for Christmas tree, memory box, necklace, bracelet, ring). There are companies that can make jewelry from the loved one’s ashes, breast milk, or flowers from the funeral. There are also stuffed animals that include a recorder to record a loved one’s voice 

  • Turn towards your faith/religion, if applicable 

  • Look for loss symbols / signs, if applicable 

  • Butterflies

  • Angels

  • Lady bugs

  • Forget-me-knots (flowers)

  • Pink and blue awareness ribbon for Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month in October

  • Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day are observed on October 15th. This includes the Wave of Light, which is a global candlelight vigil. From 7-8 p.m. local time, you light a candle to remember your baby. This global event creates a continuous wave of light that moves across time zones. You can participate on social media using #WaveOfLight

  • A feather

  • Songbirds and cardinals 

  • Signs with a personal significance (something that has a loved one’s birthday, death day, etc. like a license plate, time on clock, specific song comes on the radio) 

  • Visit the cemetery (if buried there) - this could include picnics, visiting on all holidays and special anniversaries, decorating the gravesite, bringing a blanket and listening to music and journaling

  • Counseling for adults and kids - may consider EMDR therapy (for trauma) if therapist feels it would be beneficial

  • Attend local support groups 

  • Get a tattoo 

  • Don’t clear away baby items without asking all involved parties first

  • Consider meal and grocery delivery services. Great gifts include Uber Eats or Door Dash gift cards as well as restaurant gift cards. If trying to help a loss family, consider grief groceries (drop off a meal only asking about food allergies - families do not want to get asked a million food preference questions when they are grieving.) Stick to something that most people will like, and that kids would likely eat. Grocery shopping and meal prepping may seem like monumental tasks after the death

  • If offered, let your support system watch your children for a few hours. Consider activities for kids such as keeping them busy at a park, zoo, trampoline park, movie theater. Consider kids gift ideas such as Magnatiles, Lego’s, puzzles, crafts, play-doh, etc. Not only does this give kids something to do, but it helps takes pressure off of the parents

  • Memory making activities with the loved one if given the chance (hand prints on canvas, hand print on paper that can be laminated, hand/foot mold prints.) These prints can further be used in funeral programs, or mementos such as printed onto a necklace 

  • You may be offered the option of bathing your baby after their passing, as well as choosing an outfit they would wear to the funeral home.  You may also be given the chance to hold your baby privately at the funeral home

  • Psychic medium 

  • Gardening 

  • Finding a creative way to cherish your loved one - such as making a shadow box with blankets, onesies, funeral flowers, favorite toys, hospital bracelets, etc. 

  • Place your loved ones picture all around the house 

  • Speak their name

  • Bring your loved ones picture with you on holidays, or when traveling. Some like to wear a pin with their loved ones picture

  • Cry. As much and as deeply as necessary. Allow yourself to feel all of the feels

  • Consider infant and pregnancy loss gift basket ideas for those who are grieving:

    • Could include items such as a heating pad, heated blanket, grief books, journal or paper, pens, snacks, postpartum supplies, water bottle, socks, slippers, food gift cards, chocolate, a candle, jewelry, activities for siblings. 

  • Explore nature - go to a local park or go for a hike 

  • Exercise 

  • For Cincinnati or local residents, visit the Angel of Hope Statues across the city in Oxford and Middletown

  • Focus on simple tasks. Take things a minute and footstep at a time

  • Help someone else 

  • Do something to help others in their memory 

  • Go to a local bakery and offer to pay for someone else’s birthday cake who has the same birthday

  • Celebrate their birthday by eating at their favorite restaurants, eating their favorite food, wearing their favorite color, listening to their favorite music, watching their favorite movies

  • Paint

  • Play or listen to music

  • Read grief resources

  • Wear jewelry with significance (breast milk, ashes, flowers from the funeral). It can allow you to feel closer to the person

  • Animal therapy. Snuggle with those furry best friends 

  • Pottery class

  • Puzzles 

  • Plant a memorial tree

  • Create a memorial garden stone

  • Create a memorial bench for a local park, at the cemetery, or at home

  • Balloon release (may also include messages inside)

  • Keep and take care of the funeral flowers

  • Hold a toy drive in their honor

  • Have a memorial picnic, walk, or bike ride

  • Don’t overlook the grandparents. Not only have they lost a grandchild, but they have to experience their child struggling with such a loss.

  • Sometimes people prefer silence and would rather be alone. Small talk can seem daunting and pointless

  • Try a change in routine - if normal routines are too triggering, try shopping at different stores, taking different streets to get where you need to go

  • Grief can change our perspective about what’s really important in life. Don’t be afraid to let go of things that are no longer a priority