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After receiving services from Hospice while caring for her mom, Stephanie Pritchard (formerly Gramlow) realized there weren’t many local resources available to support people in their grief.
Stephanie grew up in Fullerton and went to school in Oakes and is now a Grief Specialist with Hospice of the Red River Valley. “I'm a licensed counselor and I support families after the death of a loved one. We typically offer thirteen months of grief support to families whose loved one was on Hospice care, but we also do grief support to the community at no cost.”
Between the losses our community faced with COVID and many sudden, unexpected deaths, in particular from suicide, Stephanie wanted to offer her professional help to Oakes.
“As Grief Specialists, we provide support to people who might not be getting it in other places. The holidays are really tough for people who are grieving because they're surrounded by messages of joy and excitement which can be painful when they're missing their loved ones. Grieving individuals often feel a sense of dread rather than excitement leading up to the holiday season. You want to be happy and joyful at Christmas when in reality, you're mourning and sometimes even feeling depressed or hopeless. I wanted to offer this class now because this time isn’t easy for everyone and I think I can help people who are grieving navigate how they want to approach it.”
Tradition is huge with the holidays, and traditions change when your loved one is gone. Hospice has some helpful decision-making tools and checklists that you can use to help you get through this challenging time.
The “Grief During the Holidays” class will be held on Tuesday, December 6 from 6 - 7:30 pm at Growing Small Towns (510 Main Avenue in Oakes). To help Stephanie prepare enough materials, she’d appreciate an RSVP by calling or texting her cell at 701-710-0269 or emailing stephanie.pritchard@hrrv.org.
If you’re not able to attend, you can still reach out to Stephanie if you want information about how to cope with grief or go to https://hrrv.org for more resources. Please share this with your loved ones that are currently grieving; no one should struggle alone.