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Leila Salisbury - Grief in Children · Look Who's Talking

0:17
You are listening to Look Who's Talking. My name
0:23
is Cameron Minter. I am your co -host and our
0:26
wonderful Head Start Director. Jessica Coffie.
0:32
Hi. Dickerson. Thank you. Wait, you got to wait
0:35
for I do it right. Okay. Okay. Jessica Coffie
0:39
Dickerson. Hello, everyone. She's in the house.
0:45
JCD, how are you? I'm doing good, Cam. You know,
0:49
the program you started yesterday was a birthday
0:52
for kiddos. Yes. Rugrats are back. They are.
0:57
And, you know, with. The first day comes excitement
1:02
and stress at the same time. Yes, yes, make it
1:05
work. Yes, we had a storm the day before, the
1:09
night before, and in one of our locations, lightning
1:13
struck. Oh, wow. So there's no power at one location,
1:18
but, you know. We're getting through, huh? We
1:20
are getting through. Had them kids outside in
1:23
the rain. You better say your ABCs. You know
1:27
what? The summer just went by too fast. It did.
1:31
I feel like I've missed so much. It did. And,
1:34
yeah, it's been a rough summer. Yeah. I'm looking
1:37
forward to the fall. Yeah. I don't even know.
1:42
I can't even remember what I did. Well, you got
1:47
married. She's mad now. And I can't even remember
1:50
if I talked about that on our last podcast. Well,
1:53
you did. You sure did. Look at you. You're a
1:57
pro. You know what to do. System. Yeah, shut
2:03
that thing down. We don't want that noise. I
2:07
think those nails are. Sorry, you're going to
2:10
have to do it. But yeah, so that's where we are.
2:15
I can't even remember if I talked about getting
2:19
married. You did. You did. We're on to now the
2:25
transition of how has that been for you? What's
2:30
going on in the Dickerson home? Well, my husband
2:34
is a great cleaner. That was a concern. That
2:39
was a concern because JCD is a little OCD. I
2:45
am. I am. But you know what? It's the transition,
2:49
and I think about this for kind of any transition
2:52
with life. there's gonna be some things that
2:57
like oh yay and then oh i wasn't expecting this
3:02
so we're we are and one of the biggest things
3:06
for me is well besides having you know people
3:09
in my house because i was used to being single
3:13
and you know but um is the balance between work
3:18
and life because i haven't had to do that before
3:22
at least maybe i was supposed to but i didn't
3:26
because i didn't have to you know right like
3:29
work was work was life yeah and now life involves
3:33
other people right um it's kind of like waiting
3:37
at home like where you at yeah but he's also
3:42
understanding because he doesn't have a traditional
3:44
job he's a mortician so he could get a job i
3:48
mean get a call at three in the morning and he
3:50
will have to get up and you know but so Yeah,
3:54
it's been different, but it's been fun. Of course
3:58
it has. Of course it has. Don't I sound like
4:01
a wife now? Yes, you sound like a wife. You're
4:03
so calm. We didn't give 15 notices about your
4:07
birthday. I think we only got one. I was going
4:10
to say, now you got one. You might not have gotten
4:12
me. Oh, that was a thing. So, I mean, of course,
4:16
y 'all know I celebrated my birthday last week.
4:20
Yay! My birthday is like a month long celebration.
4:27
It was. Yes. And we're still celebrating. What
4:31
are you talking about? It was. Yeah. So I usually
4:37
plan out a whole just thing. And he was like,
4:43
do you trust me? Oh, are you going to let me
4:48
plan? So I had nothing to do with my birthday.
4:54
and that gave me a little bit of anxiety because
4:57
I'm like, well, what if he doesn't want to do
4:59
what I want to do? Right. But no, he did a great
5:02
job. Oh. Yeah. So it's over. For the people I
5:08
make celebrate, yes. But for me and him, no.
5:11
There's a couple more restaurants we have to
5:13
go to. Yeah. Hey, so have you gotten his, you
5:20
know, your foodie? Has that rubbed off? Oh, yes.
5:24
Oh, yeah. Absolutely. So he is open to try like
5:29
any restaurant. Yeah, I think we have been cooking
5:35
more. That's good to say. Yes. You're married
5:39
now. We got to put some cooking in. Yes. Especially
5:43
when you're making posts about, you know, parents
5:45
with all these pictures. I know. Show the dinner
5:48
for that. But Cam, I used to like everyone at
5:52
work. I'm like, you actually mean you leave work
5:55
and go home and cook for your family. And guess
5:58
who's doing it now? Like, I don't even think
6:01
twice about it. I go in and like, oh, this is
6:04
what I'm going to eat. I whip it up. And it's
6:08
not like it takes a long time. You know, I want
6:11
to give you props, but you're a financer. So,
6:14
you know, okay, I'm going to put this elbow grease
6:18
in instead of paying $400 a month for food. Out.
6:23
Yeah, well. We just did that last week, okay?
6:28
No. No, like, yeah, because now bringing two
6:33
people, two finances, and I'm like, I know that
6:37
I was, you know, handling by myself, but now
6:42
coming in. Teamwork. Yes, it's teamwork. It's,
6:46
hey, how can we flip this money and make it work
6:50
for us, you know? So, yeah, we're just trying
6:54
to. lovingly figure everything out it's been
6:58
it's been fun though that's good that's good
7:00
that's that's the great part i still keep saying
7:03
about christmas christmas is coming that no thanksgiving's
7:06
coming so you better you better get that together
7:09
yeah so we have yet to decide on because he's
7:15
from here his family's here and mine is four
7:17
hours away in paducah and i'm like this will
7:21
be the thanksgiving i've i've done thanksgiving
7:25
away from them but christmas i'm sorry my mama
7:29
and daddy still give me gifts now that's over
7:32
that's over you get socks and drawers from here
7:36
on out you just look for no they still give gifts
7:39
i still want to be present for those gifts but
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i've talked to my niece uh my niece nephew and
7:45
my sister and we're concocting like let's do
7:50
Christmas away because they're older now it's
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not as fun and we're thinking about doing it
7:56
away and somehow convincing my parents they need
8:00
to come don't yeah I don't know how that's gonna
8:04
work because they're they're like more traditional
8:06
that's me yeah but I will say We're open. Right,
8:15
right. We're open because cooking for everybody
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and all that, that's getting old. That's getting
8:20
old. Well, and I just feel like we're in a different
8:24
place, society -wise, world -wise. Like, I'm
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into experiences more than I'm into gifts now.
8:33
Don't get me wrong. If you give me a gift, I'm
8:35
going to take it. But I want us to have memories.
8:38
Yeah. That's good. That's real good. Well, it
8:43
sounds like you're ready for a Coffie Break.
8:57
All right. For today's Coffie Break, I want to
9:00
say and just remind you, we are not our past
9:04
mistakes. We are our present and future intention.
9:09
What do you think about that? Oh, I love that.
9:12
Not our past mistakes. Because, you know, there's
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somebody who will always remind us of our past.
9:19
Oh my God, I got a story about that. It'll be
9:22
an off -air story. But those who remind you of
9:26
your past want to keep you held to those pasts
9:31
to make them feel better about your accomplishments.
9:35
Some people would rather see you, remember you
9:38
in the mud than to see you in the light. Yeah.
9:41
See what I'm saying? So, yeah. And it's important
9:45
that, you know, you have a different vision of
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yourself. Whatever that past was, it should not
9:53
block your vision or you seeing clearly on your
9:57
present and your future. That's it. That's it.
9:59
Because if we are stuck to our past. Were you
10:04
at pre -service? No. Oh, you were not. I know.
10:08
I know. We had someone at pre -service who works
10:11
with our homeless population. And he laid it
10:16
all out about his past. Like, he was very transparent.
10:19
And he said the only way that I can basically
10:23
understand someone who was on drugs, someone
10:26
who was homeless, is because I've been in that
10:30
place. And now I'm walking with them to get them
10:33
out. It was just so powerful that I felt like
10:39
the room erupted and people had tears because
10:43
sometimes through the hustle and bustle of work,
10:47
through the frustrations and things like that,
10:50
we kind of... lose focus of what we're here to
10:53
do. But I feel like that put us back into that
10:57
spot of I am here to serve people. I am here
11:01
to make a better pathway for someone else who's,
11:05
you know, walking on the dirt road. You know,
11:08
that's it. And speaking of, Cam, we have a great
11:13
guest on our show today. We're going to be talking
11:16
about understanding grief in children. Because
11:20
sometimes, again, with this pathway, there might
11:23
be something that in our past that we're dealing
11:27
with that we haven't dealt with. So we have Lela
11:32
Salisbury here with us. And she is the executive
11:39
director of the Kentucky Center of Grieving Children
11:43
and Families. And that was founded in 2020. Welcome,
11:47
Leela. Thank you. I'm so glad to be here today.
11:49
We're so glad to have you. And knowing that our
11:53
program, we have experienced loss on many different
11:58
levels in our program. And it's good to have
12:02
you here and know that there's a resource out
12:05
there for children and families. Yes, I will.
12:07
say all our services are free for kids and their
12:10
families we do community -based support groups
12:13
we've got some school -based services for professionals
12:18
we do training education this fall we're about
12:21
to start and I'll make sure you all have information
12:23
about that bi -monthly kind of open zoom for
12:28
parents and caregivers who have questions about
12:31
grief and you know we may take a topic or sometimes
12:37
You know, people can just ask us questions and
12:39
we'll have our clinician on there. And, you know,
12:41
grief behavior seems so mysterious and abnormal.
12:46
And I feel like most of the time I spend, you
12:50
know, when I'm talking to folks, I'm like, that's
12:52
completely normal for what's happened, you know,
12:55
in this child's life. So, yeah, I would love
12:57
for people to, you know, think of us anytime
12:59
as a resource. And so. How about you open up
13:03
and just tell our guests a little bit more about.
13:08
the Kentucky Center for Grieving Children. How
13:12
did it get established? Tell a little bit more
13:14
about you. Yeah, so this was a career shift in
13:18
my 40s, late 40s for me. I started in higher
13:23
education for 25 years. And I'm from Kentucky,
13:28
but my daughter and I and husband were living
13:31
in Jackson, Mississippi for our work. And about
13:35
four years after we moved there, died by suicide.
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And so I was alone with my five year old, my
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family's all here in Kentucky. And there happened
13:45
to be a children's grief center about two miles
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up the road from where we lived. And that kind
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of became our second home. You know, the place
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where everybody got and had some version of what
13:59
we were going through. And it just became our
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safe. And I found myself joking repeatedly, I'm
14:06
going to move back to Kentucky and start one
14:07
of these centers. Kentucky was one of the last
14:09
states that didn't have a child and family focused
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program. And so about the fifth time I made that
14:15
joke, I'm like, okay, you know, my soul is telling
14:18
me something here. So I started a year before
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we moved volunteering with them just to see from,
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you know, the non -client side, what does this
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work feel like? And I loved it. You know, I always
14:30
say that center was the, most peaceful and happy
14:34
place I knew. And you know, when you're talking
14:36
about grief, anybody who hasn't walked this journey
14:38
is like, what? That doesn't sound right. But
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I think for people who have experienced that,
14:43
there are those places. And so I realized. That's
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what I want to do for Kentucky. So we started
14:50
during COVID, which was kind of crazy. But my
14:54
MO has always been never waste a good crisis.
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So we were very fortunate. There was COVID recovery
15:01
money coming through the state. And so we started
15:03
a pilot with Fayette County Public Schools to
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do school -based grief groups to start. And it
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kind of grew from there. And a year later, we
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added a family group in Lexington. This fall,
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we're ready to add, or well, it'll probably be
15:22
January, but a second location of a family group
15:25
with St. John Missionary Baptist Church to really,
15:30
you know, there's so much need. And I want to
15:32
create spaces that feel right for any family.
15:37
So it is, I just want people to reach out to
15:42
us. You know, I think people are afraid to talk
15:45
about or touch their grief, but I feel like that's
15:48
one of the most empowering and powerful things
15:52
you can do for your family as a whole. And especially
15:55
for the kids who are impacted. Well, we'll talk
15:58
more about that. I just went through some grief
16:01
and as you are saying it, Yeah, everybody's been
16:05
real quiet around me. So, yeah, we'll talk more
16:08
with Lila right after the break. You are listening
16:11
to Look Who's Talking. This past year has highlighted
16:30
the strength of Community Action Council. Every
16:32
day, our staff works together to help families
16:35
recover from this crisis. We're educating children
16:37
at home and in person, helping parents who lost
16:39
their jobs, and helping households avoid eviction.
16:42
Our work at Community Action Council has never
16:44
been more important than it is right now. So
16:47
why don't you join us? We have employment opportunities
16:49
requiring a range of skills from entry level
16:51
to advanced. Apply online at commaction .org.
16:56
That's commaction .org. We're back and we're
17:21
talking with Lila Salisbury, right? And we're
17:26
talking. Huh? Lila? I want to keep saying Lila.
17:32
It's Lila. Lila Salisbury. I'm so sorry. We're
17:36
talking about grief. And I just lost my mom.
17:40
And it's funny coming back to work because people
17:46
don't know what to say. They don't know what
17:48
to do. They look. You get the aww look. Unless
17:55
they're turning down the hall like when they
17:57
see you because they kind of like they love you
17:59
but they don't know what to say. It's the elephant
18:02
in the room and everybody's like, hey, hi, okay.
18:08
Yes, you know. Yeah. And it's, you know, it's
18:11
difficult. It's difficult dealing with grief
18:14
and knowing that life must go on, right? You
18:18
got to get back into a routine. You got to get
18:21
things going, you know. You just can't stop.
18:26
And I think that's a challenge in dealing with
18:30
grief. What are some ways that people can take
18:35
that grief and, you know, is it okay to talk
18:40
about it? Yes. I joke like 90 % of my job is
18:45
encouraging people to have uncomfortable conversations
18:48
they really don't want to have. Talking about
18:52
it is so important because once you do, it is
18:57
the most common human experience we will all
19:00
have. We will all experience loss during our
19:03
lives. And so to me, it's funny and odd that
19:06
like considering that is the thing that connects
19:09
us most as humans, like we're terrible at acknowledging
19:12
it or we act like it's this other thing that,
19:15
you know, we don't want to acknowledge or talk
19:18
about. And so there is something very freeing.
19:21
And something I think grieving people find is
19:25
they're sometimes surprised and disappointed
19:28
by who doesn't show up for them because sometimes
19:31
the people you think are going to show up don't.
19:34
And then that's its own form of grief. But I
19:37
think they also find, and this has certainly
19:39
been true in my experience, other people show
19:42
up. that you don't expect they're they're kind
19:45
of like maybe your second circle often but suddenly
19:48
in these moments of grief and loss like the right
19:52
people do show up they're just kind of different
19:54
from maybe who you thought and so there is something
19:58
it's both sad and beautiful like the new connections
20:01
that you make and you find the people who will
20:04
talk about it with you and that becomes you know
20:07
i think people just feel like if If we talk about
20:11
it, it'll be triggering. It'll be upsetting for
20:14
you. And I will say, I came back to work and
20:18
the girls upstairs, they was like, hey, can you
20:21
come upstairs? And I was like, okay. I came upstairs
20:24
and they had a beautiful plaque with lights and
20:28
my mother's picture. And I said, okay, I gotta
20:31
go. You know, that's something I think part of
20:37
why it feels so uncomfortable. Because in that
20:40
moment, you showed up as a full human being with
20:43
both the gratitude and joy and the sadness. And
20:46
I think, you know, I was talking to an artist
20:49
a couple days ago about a project, you know,
20:53
that we're doing with her. And at one point,
20:56
because it's a project, my late mother was an
20:58
artist. And so this is an art project. So it
21:01
really feels like a tribute to her in some ways.
21:04
And then I realized I'm just crying on this Zoom.
21:06
And I'm like, good Lord, this is like... professional
21:09
what's happening you know with me and we just
21:11
kind of sat in it and then it moved on to the
21:13
meeting and i i thought about it afterwards and
21:16
i'm like years ago i think i would have been
21:18
upset with myself or think oh this person thinks
21:22
i'm crazy and the other day i'm like you know
21:26
what i just showed up as my full self and i think
21:28
that is one of the things grief you know it cracks
21:32
open the heaviest and sometimes hardest of emotions
21:35
but with that on the other end of the spectrum
21:38
comes great joy and appreciation of life so you
21:43
know it's it's living in the fullest in all that
21:47
yeah complication and messiness sometimes i think
21:51
sometimes with us is it's hard for us to be vulnerable
21:54
in certain situations and i don't think that
21:57
we talk about grief enough not just when it comes
22:00
but Even before then, and to me, and I don't
22:06
know why we don't talk about it, but I'm to the
22:09
point now where I've lost so many people close
22:12
to me that I want to be there, empathetic for
22:16
others going through it as well. But I'm also
22:18
like, for me, if you tell me, oh, it's going
22:22
to be okay, I want to. Turn around and be like,
22:24
shut up. No, it won't. Or like when, like Cameron
22:30
said, life moves on for everyone else. it's like
22:35
no my life has changed i have to adjust to this
22:39
yes and it feels wrong like the the victorians
22:43
turn of the century they had all these traditions
22:45
where when somebody close to you died they would
22:47
literally stop the clocks and they would cover
22:50
them up with like a black cloth and you could
22:52
go into a room for like a year and not have to
22:54
see anybody you don't want to see and in some
22:57
ways i'm like i get that like right that's that
23:01
actually is attending to your grief in a way
23:03
probably that's really helpful but our modern
23:06
life does not accommodate that at all so i think
23:10
and and the messaging we get around it you know
23:14
like a month later you're like oh well it's been
23:17
a month or aren't you all right now and there
23:20
I think there are so many expectations that are
23:23
set of how you are supposed to grieve in a timeline
23:26
and none of those things you know grief is as
23:29
individual as you are as a person and how you
23:32
grieve is going to be different from and Even
23:35
grieving one loss to another loss can feel like
23:39
a completely different experience. I think that's
23:42
part of why. grief seems so scary to people because
23:47
if there were just like a list of three things,
23:49
you know, if you're grieving, you do these three
23:51
things and then you'll be fine. And like that
23:53
list is, well, it kind of doesn't exist, but
23:56
also is different for everybody. So there's no
23:59
one way to do it. And that makes it feel really
24:02
hard and messy. One of the things, you know,
24:04
we serve children zero to five. Yes. And, um,
24:08
I was good until like, my grandkid came and he's
24:15
he you know he's responding to death with like
24:19
you know wake up mama t yes and he's hugging
24:23
and he's you know he's really paying attention
24:26
to me you know and i i find that as uh i think
24:32
i read somewhere in in the preparation that that
24:35
is how uh they deal with grief because as we're
24:39
dealing with grief the children are dealing with
24:42
grief as well yes that is one of the biggest
24:44
misconceptions i think people have about children
24:46
in grief they think either they're too young
24:49
to grieve that they don't understand what's happening
24:52
at all or you know we just say oh kids are resilient
24:55
you know they'll be fine and we don't have to
24:57
talk about it and they'll just magically be okay
24:59
with it and I don't think either of those things
25:01
are true and I think I was reminded of this yesterday
25:06
actually last night I was at a meeting with a
25:08
site partner and one of the folks we were meeting
25:10
with she has a five -year -old and they were
25:12
setting up you know she was setting up a play
25:14
area for her and one of the toys you know she's
25:19
like this is from grandma couch you know here's
25:23
that thing you really like and the little the
25:25
five -year -old's like grandma couch is dead
25:28
and the mom's like yes yes she is like kids at
25:32
that age are very literal they they also don't
25:36
until like the age of nine or ten they don't
25:38
understand the permanence of death so part of
25:41
you know how kids are very reportorial they'll
25:44
just talk you know yeah very plain language about
25:46
you know what's happening so that was kind of
25:49
what's going on you know in this scenario a she's
25:52
just kind of repeating this to kind of you know
25:56
she's setting it in her brain this is a new piece
25:58
of information this person is dead you know they're
26:01
not coming back and so she's doing what she needs
26:04
to do to process it i think we're the It's not
26:08
a problem, but it's just, you know, the adults
26:10
are the problem. We freak out when we see that.
26:13
We're like, don't talk about death. Or, you know,
26:15
with kids, when you talk about death, it actually
26:18
is best to use really concrete language. You
26:21
know, if you say to a child, a young child, you
26:25
know, they passed away, they went to sleep. Kids,
26:28
they don't understand that. So they may be afraid
26:31
to go to sleep because they think, well, this
26:35
person's no longer here because they went to
26:37
sleep. So if I go to sleep, that may happen to
26:39
me. So a lot of the euphemisms around death are
26:42
actually confusing and frightening for kids.
26:44
So when they can say they're dead, they died
26:48
to us adults, that sounds terrible or like really
26:51
harsh, but actually. That's kind of what the
26:54
kids need. They're through play, or I've seen
26:59
kids playing death Barbies. They'll recreate
27:01
a car crash or a funeral scene, and the adults
27:04
are freaking out. And I just say, those are the
27:08
tools that young children have to process what
27:11
has happened in their lives. good thing that
27:14
they're doing that so are there any tips or pointers
27:19
you can give parents who may find themselves
27:22
in a place where someone important in their life
27:24
has has died and like is there anything that
27:30
they should look at with their kiddos to say
27:33
hey at what point do I find them a counselor
27:36
or do I do that in the beginning like Yeah, so
27:40
I'm so glad you asked that because a lot of times
27:43
I'll get phone calls from, you know, caregiver
27:46
or surviving parent and they'll be like, her
27:50
dad died yesterday. I would like a counselor
27:52
tomorrow, for tomorrow. And, you know, and the
27:55
child's six. And I'm like, well, they may eventually
27:59
need a counselor, but like grief. And being sad
28:03
about something is also a natural process. You
28:06
know, we've loved and had a relationship with
28:08
this person who's died. Like we're going to be
28:10
sad. You know, there are a series of normal emotions
28:13
that follow that. And so I don't want to make.
28:17
you know grieving is not mental illness i guess
28:20
that's something i really would like to to say
28:23
and kids have a journey they're going to need
28:26
to go through that now you know when and that's
28:30
one thing i want to encourage you know people
28:31
are always we're happy to do phone consults like
28:34
people call us all the time we don't do individual
28:36
counseling but we work with referrals to make
28:39
sure that you know we can hook people up according
28:41
to you know what kind of insurance you have with
28:44
a counselor who's good with grief and the type
28:48
of grief you know that this child may be experiencing
28:50
so in cases where it was a traumatic death they
28:53
may have witnessed a violent death or something
28:56
like that you know it's maybe more likely that
28:59
they will need right help of a counselor in some
29:02
additional processing or um you know kids regrieve
29:06
the other challenging thing of parenting a grieving
29:09
child they regrieve at every developmental stage
29:12
because it you know as they're brain develops,
29:15
they're able to understand death in different
29:17
ways. And especially deaths that are, you know,
29:22
stigmatized, homicide, suicide, overdose, you
29:25
know, they're gonna react to them one way when
29:28
they're six and a different way when they're
29:30
13. So I think, you know, helping parents understand,
29:35
you know, for better or worse, this is a lifetime
29:39
parenting gig. I know that that's hard to hear.
29:42
And I remember when About six months after my
29:46
husband died, you know, when I, the moment I
29:49
understood that, and it was kind of one of the
29:50
worst moments of my life because I'm like, we're
29:53
never done talking about this. But I will say
29:56
it's different and it comes in waves and stages.
29:59
So it's not like it is the super heavy 24 -7
30:04
thing, you know, for the next 18 years, if that
30:06
helps anyone listening who's experienced a loss.
30:09
You can get through it. I think my big advice
30:12
is don't be afraid to talk about it. The other
30:15
thing that I think is so important, take the
30:19
child's lead. And I am the worst. victim of this
30:24
you know they when this child you know the other
30:27
night said grandma's dead you know i think in
30:30
my past life you know i would have taken that
30:32
as the moment to oh she wants to have a conversation
30:35
about why do people die why is there illness
30:37
and sadness in the world like i would make it
30:40
into a big thing and literally all this child
30:42
is doing saying grandma gave me this toy and
30:45
she's dead now and like that may be all this
30:48
child needed or wanted to say about this. So
30:51
I think in some ways we as adults complicate
30:55
it or make it so much harder. So I think like
31:00
listening is the best thing, like active listening,
31:03
you know, the parent can say, caregiver can say
31:07
back, yeah, you know, grandma crouches dead.
31:10
And then the child may want to talk more or that
31:13
that may be all they needed. And so just that
31:15
that active listening, you know, honestly, it's
31:18
easier than trying to figure out what the child
31:21
is needing. You know, they'll kind of tell you
31:24
most of the time. So that's my best piece of
31:27
advice, especially with younger ones, but also
31:29
teens like let let them lead you in these conversations.
31:34
That's good. all right we're running we run out
31:37
i was i'm not done i know we gotta bring i have
31:41
a lot more questions but um i'll come back anytime
31:44
this is a big topic oh it is so big um can you
31:49
tell us what the Kentucky Center for Grieving
31:52
Children and Families can you tell us um how
31:56
they can get in contact with you or if you have
31:58
some i don't know community events coming up
32:02
We do, actually. So on our website, www .kcgcf
32:08
.org. But if you look up Children Kentucky Grief
32:12
on Google, it'll pull it right up. There's information
32:16
about our open family groups on August 20th.
32:20
So in a few weeks, we have an ice cream social
32:22
that's going to be over at the Whitaker Y Family
32:25
Pavilion. And it's a free event just for families.
32:31
who've experienced loss to come meet our staff
32:33
hear more meet some of the families who come
32:36
to our family grief support groups and see what
32:38
that's like you know we work with kids so everything
32:41
is play -based you know we know they're kids
32:43
yeah and so we design you know what we do accordingly
32:48
it's very hands -on and and kids still need to
32:52
be kids yes and so i i encourage folks to come
32:56
come meet us and just learn more about it because
32:58
you know people hear grief support group and
33:00
think because it sounds like, oh, I don't want
33:03
to do that. It is. The sound I associate with
33:07
our group nights is laughter. Kids are playing.
33:11
They're just happy to be with other kids who
33:13
are like them. They're not the different one
33:16
in that space. And the adults create their own
33:20
beautiful community. They're sharing babysitters.
33:23
They're telling each other about, you know, getting
33:25
together to do stuff with the kids. Like you
33:28
mentioned, you're different after a loss, but
33:32
I want people to know that different can still
33:35
be good. Yes. Yeah. Thank you so much. Thank
33:40
you for being on the show. Leela. Thank you.
33:44
Leela. You got it. I got it. I got it. All right.
33:49
That's the show. Thank you for listening. Please
33:51
tell your friends, share the show. We will see
33:55
you on the next time you have been listening
33:58
to Look Who's Talking.