This is a tangible way one mother has decided to honour the life of her child. She hopes that the symbol of a purple butterfly to indicate the loss of a sibling in a multiple birth will be adopted by hospitals across the UK.
It’s Father’s Day weekend. Woman can be great at being able to openly talk, cry, share and be supportive of one another after a loss. Sometimes, it can be much more difficult for father’s. There is a lot of pressure.
Fathers are expected to be the strong ones, the ones who are supposed to keep it all together. They are there to make sure that their wives have a shoulder to cry on, to pick up the pieces and keep the family afloat, are they not? “How is your wife doing?” people may ask. Expectations put on dads can be high.
The loss of a child can also greatly impact a marriage and has the potential to tear couples apart. I’ve heard from others and have experienced myself how grief can be expressed differently between moms and dads causing anger, misunderstanding and resentment. Hurting marriages can be restored through open communication, couples counselling and hard work. Weekend programs such as Retrouvaille can be a turning point if it has gotten to the point of wanting to separate.
Grief however, can also bring couples closer together. Take time to understand your partner’s point of view. Have honest discussions about how you might express your grief and how it may differ from your spouses way of coping.
How can we as moms support our partners? I’d like to share resources that are collected here on the Mothering Your Heart website.
Wishing you all a gentle Father’s Day weekend…
It is always great to hear about support groups that people can attend. Read here about these groups meeting up in Port Moody and in Vancouver. The groups are run by In Our Hearts.