How You Can Support a Bereaved Parent

Hosts Odette Mould and Sophia Giblin discuss how parents can support themselves after losing their child in the penultimate episode of Season 1.

Odette shares well-intended conversations that had the opposite effect on her after losing Harry.  She didn’t appreciate it when people would try to comfort her by saying they understood what she was going through, because they didn’t: only someone who has lost a child of their own would understand the unique pain of burying your child. And when people would compliment her strength, saying they wouldn’t be able to hold on like she was doing, it made her feel like she couldn’t be vulnerable in front of them.

What did help her, though, were the people reaching out wanting to talk about Harry and remember him, dropping a simple text on the anniversary of his death. Those things made a world of a difference to Odette and her family.

Odette advises listeners who knew a child that passed to write down memories of them in a card and send them to the bereaved family. Your memory of their loved one will be invaluable to them.

Key Takeaways

• Rather than saying you understand a parent’s loss, comfort them by offering to help them with whatever you can.
• Families appreciate when people reach out and remember their late loved ones.
• Sharing a special memory you have of a late child with their family is something they will cherish. 

Resources

• Harry’s Rainbow
• Odette Mould on LinkedIn
• Sophia Giblin on LinkedIn
• Donate to Harry's Rainbow