On February 27th, 2020, Scott was supposed to help his brother for a bit and then meet us back at home with dinner. He never came back. In a split second, our lives were forever changed. We were blindsided by the massive loss of a wonderful husband and plugged-in dad. He was many things to many people, but to us, he was our world and our world just stopped. It was difficult to watch everyone carry on with their normal lives, seemingly happy and without a care. I started to feel alone and resentful. I also started to see negative changes in each of our three my daughters, each different ages and in different developmental stages of life. How was I supposed to manage my own grief, a household, and countless other things, while helping our daughters cope in a positive way? I was determined to not let the loss of such a beautiful life turn our family into something ugly.

I just knew I couldn’t do this on my own. I needed a support system of highly experienced people to help guide us in putting the pieces of our family back together. I reached out to Sarah from The Grief Club of Minnesota. She was so kind and gentle with us every step of the way. We have utilized the many services of The Grief Club including family counseling sessions so we could heal together, as well as, individual sessions, depending on who was needing some extra guidance. We also attended the child/parent grief support group series. Sarah taught me different ways to support my daughters at home, and helped me to understand where and how to support each child in their developmental stage of grief. We were able to access our grief in many different ways. Whether that was through a meaningful art project, a writing exercise, or by simply talking and sharing in laughter and in the pain.

I currently participate in one of The Grief Club’s many groups. Each one specializes in therapy sessions for your specific needs. It has been so beneficial for me to be surrounded by others who know my same pain and hardships. We are able to offer support to each other that no one else understands, and I take great comfort in that.

There are no words for the gratitude that I have for The Grief Club of Minnesota. Even though the services are free, I would pay anything because what they do is invaluable. I will continue to find ways to support them, whether through volunteer work or fundraising efforts. It will never be enough, but I feel compelled to help in any way. We will all need the support of The Grief Club, eventually…timing being the only variable.

Kristin Vig