Emi Fine has gone through more than most kids her age have.
“I’m 10 and I wouldn’t expect my 33-year-old dad to pass away,” Emi shared in an interview.
In January, she lost her father unexpectedly and thinks about him every day. She even carries a bit of him around her neck.
“My necklace has my dad’s ashes in them,” she said.
It’s taken time for her to understand he’s gone.
“I’m still shocked.”
To help her, her mother decided to send her to a grief counselor at Hospice of Davidson to talk about what she’s feeling and how to cope with the loss of a loved one.
Lesia Lancaster, a bereavement counselor at Hospice of Davidson, says talking about death and loss with children works differently than with adults.
“Children grieve differently in that they are in different developmental stages,” Lancaster said. “Their processing of the understanding of the word death is very different depending on their developmental stage.”
According to the JAG Institute, 1 in 20 children will experience the death of a parent or sibling before the age of 18… An issue that affects more than four million children across the U.S.
That’s why Hospice of Davidson County will be hosting free, age-specific grief programs, called Open Heart grief, to help children like Emi cope with loss.
“They’re having the same feelings many times that we have, they just don’t know how to express them,” Lancaster explained.
Through interactive activities and discussions, the sessions are meant to support, not only the grieving child, but also the rest of the family.
“My healing is seeing her heal, and I think every mother that way,” shared her mother, Kim Winegar.
The key to the success of it all, according to Lancaster, is giving children the outlet to speak and be heard.
And Emi, who has started to pick up the pieces, agrees.
“You’ll achieve your goals of when you’re trying not to be upset with a loss or what’s going on at home or anything else like that,” she said. “You also have your mind on it so you remember it, but be happy about it.”
Pre-registration for the free Open-Heart Grief programs is required and can be completed at hospiceofdavidson.org or by calling (336) 475-5444.
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