Celebrity Links

Suggested Group(s): Young/Middle/Teen

Purpose: To normalize their grief experience, let them know that they are not alone in their grief. Also, in some cases, to see that a loss can change a life path

Task/need: Living on the grief spiral, context of meaning

Activity Setup Ideas:

• Provide each child with a picture of the famous person, and simply ask the question, "What do you have in common with this person?" (Pictures can be found by using Google images and searching for the person's name.)

Materials:

• Copies of pictures of a famous person who has faced a loss as a child
• Background information about that person’s loss (for the facilitator)

Description: This activity emphasizes the fact that even famous people have faced loss. Select a relevant person who has faced the loss of a family member as a child. (In Pittsburgh in 2009, an example is Ben Roethlisberger of the Pittsburgh Steelers.)

Allow the children a few minutes to take their guesses before telling them that the common thread is loss. Share the story of the celebrity’s loss if you know the details. Let this open the discussion as to how their experiences are similar and how the celebrity might have overcome the early loss.

Questions that you may ask:

• How do you think he/she might have felt when told of the death of his/her family member?
• Do you think that his/her experience might have been similar to yours?
• Looking at this story, do you think that having experienced this loss had an impact on how he lived his life?

Activity Wrap-Up Ideas:

• Ask the group if they know of any other people who lost someone important to them as a child or teen.
• Ask if it helps to know that others have gone through similar experiences.
• Let them know that there are probably more people than they know who have had losses and gotten through them.