This September, I set up my Grief & Grace camper at Grenada Day. My little 2012 RPod — complete with a seven-foot feather flag that reads “Grief and Grace Coffee Meet Up” — served as a pop-up booth, inviting anyone who wanted to stop by for a conversation about loss.
Throughout the day, people wandered in. Some shared their stories in detail. Others lingered at the door, hesitant but curious. A few just wanted to know what grief support in a community setting could look like. What struck me most wasn’t how different their circumstances were, but how familiar the ache felt behind every word.
Loss has a way of leveling us. It doesn’t ask about race, background or social standing. The pain of losing a mother, a father or a child is something every human heart recognizes. In that moment of connection, titles, politics and divisions fade. We meet each other in the one place we all understand — sorrow.
In a culture so often marked by division, grief has a strange power to unite us. Sitting with someone who has buried a parent, or listening to a friend who misses a child, tears down walls. Suddenly, what divides us no longer matters — because what we share in that moment is love and longing.
Romans 12:15 reminds us: “Weep with those who weep.” Such a small command, but one with profound healing power. To enter into someone else’s grief is to step onto sacred ground. It communicates: You are not alone.
Modern research echoes this truth. UCLA Health notes that sharing grief in community — through talking, gathering, even something as simple as a hug —can lighten the burden of sorrow. Grief needs a witness. When our stories are heard, the heaviness begins to lift, even if only a little.
That’s what I witnessed at Grenada Day. My camper became a safe place where strangers found common ground in mourning. And I was reminded that while grief can be heavy, it can also be shared.
Griever’s Toolbox
• Tell your story to someone safe. Giving words to grief begins to lighten its weight.
• Offer presence. Sitting with another person in silence can be as healing as speaking.
Grief will always hurt, but it also has a surprising power: it can bring us together in ways nothing else can.
Debbie Simler-Goff, Certified Mental Health Coach (AACC) Email: debbiesimler@gmail.com
