THUNDER BAY – “I miss you. It’s not getting easier,” was one person's reaction after attending an exhibit now up at Hospice Northwest.
Walls are lined with photographs to capture the personal journey of grief individuals can experience as part of Hospice Northwest's third annual Personal Lens on Grief exhibit, which will be in the organization's office for the entire month of November.
Nineteen participants submitted photographs along with their story to be displayed in the photography exhibition.
Diana Prairie, group facilitator at Hospice Northwest, said each year the exhibition is special because it brings out different people who are reflecting on their grief.
“It doesn't matter if your grief is five weeks long, five years long, 50 years long. People experience that in different ways," she said. “For people to be able to purposely put a picture to what their grief experience has been like, it's amazing."
“I think people that put a picture in, it has one meaning to them. But other people that see it also have some sort of experience and they then are able to reflect on their own grief journey,” Prairie said.
The exhibits in the display are from both people who have lost a loved one and people who are losing a loved one, she said.
“The journey of grief starts long before the actual death. We see people that are in that process of losing someone and then from there, they are in that process of trying to gather things together after the loss has happened.”
It is mind-boggling that all it can take is one picture to be able to move someone along in their grief journey, Prairie said.
“For each and every person that puts a picture in, you can capture both from the stories that are listed under the pictures, but you can also capture where people are at," she said. “It's phenomenal and it evokes emotion in you that sometimes you don't even realize that you have, when you see something and it connects you to that person, connects you to your own piece of grief.”
Grief is an experience that every single person has experienced at some point in their life, Prairie said.
Sophie Kuhn, acting grief coordinator at Hospice Northwest, said the exhibit is very meaningful for her personally.
“I think we don't talk about grief, and socially it's not acceptable to share. We're struggling and to that, we need help," Kuhn said.
“This exhibit gives people a different way of expressing that and sometimes it's the first way they feel comfortable even saying they're going through grief or they're struggling and need that support," she added. “This is really meaningful to all of the staff who also contributed submissions and to myself as well, who also submitted."
Reflecting on our loss experiences and where we are today can really help people in the healing journey when it comes to grief and bereavement, Kuhn said.
“We're really encouraging everyone to bring their friends and family to share their experiences and let people know that this is something we're doing right outside of our office. Maybe that encourages people to get that support or when they are experiencing a loss later in life, they know that it is something that other people have experienced," she said.
“They’re not the only one that's going through that, it can feel a little less alone for some people.We just want to start a conversation about grief and let people know it's OK,” Kuhn said.
Hospice Northwest offers many different grief and loss support programs.
“We offer support groups that go all throughout the year. If you want to come to our workshops on grief or any of our programming, we encourage everyone to give us a call or just swing by at our office and we're always available," said Kuhn, noting that often people walk in when they need someone to talk to.
The exhibition will continue to be on display for the month of November during office hours, Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Hospice Northwest, located at 63 Carrie St.
