The Need for Support

Part of the process of grief is learning how to live in the "new normal" of our lives. In this process, grieving teens need support. This support can be especially helpful coming from other grieving teens, those who are going through the same experiences.

When someone we love dies, a hole is torn through the family, and through each member of the family. No matter how young or old we are, we grieve the death of the one we love.

Grief is natural and normal after someone we love has died. But just because it’s natural and normal doesn’t mean that we just "get over it."

Grief may be natural and normal, but it’s not easy. When someone so close has died, nothing seems normal.

"When someone dies that has been in your life since the day you were born, your world goes dark. You feel shut out from the world, from everything, your friends, your family. It’s like you are in a box or a dark tunnel by yourself. You feel like you’re the only person in the world going through it." — Megan, 18

The person we love is gone, and so is a lot of life that we have known. Part of the process of grief is learning how to live in this new life, this "new normal."

Just at the time we're traveling this new and difficult and frightening road of grief, many of us feel especially alone. Since we usually don’t know anyone else, especially of our own age, who has gone through something like this, we feel isolated, different. Alone.

We need support — support from other teens and families going through the same things, feeling the same feelings, understanding each other because they too have experienced the death of someone they loved very deeply.