Coping with grief on Mother’s Day

While Mother’s Day is usually a time to celebrate, it can be a painful occasion if your mother step-mother, mother figure or child has died.

As Mother’s Day approaches, the family support team at Prospect Hospice offers advice on coping with your grief.

“Meaningful days like Mother’s Day can intensify emotions and feelings if you are bereaved and this is a natural response of grieving.

“Everyone will have their own special way in which they will remember their mum, step-mum, mother figure (such as a grandmother or an older sister) or child on Mother’s Day and each person’s experience of loss will be different and unique to them.

“An important thing is to remember to be gentle with yourself and those around you, knowing that it may be tough and could be very sad and that is ok. We would encourage you to plan ahead and share your thoughts with your family or friends on what you want to do on the day itself and, more importantly, what you can’t do.

“Some ways to remember your loved one on Mother’s Day could be by looking at a photograph of them, lighting a candle, writing down your thoughts and feelings in a card or cooking their favourite food.

“A lasting way to remember someone is to make a memory box where you put in treasures that remind you of that special person.”

A Prospect Hospice memory leaf (link) is also a wonderful way to remember your loved one. Each leaf can be individually engraved with a dedication and the leaf is then hung on the memory tree situated in the hospice’s remembrance garden.

If you know someone who will be mourning the loss of someone special on Mother’s Day, ask them if you can help them with anything or if they would like to talk about the person they have lost.

Prospect Hospice offers bereavement support to the loved ones of patients who were cared for by the hospice. If you would like to enquire about bereavement support, you can call our single point of contact team on 01793 816124 (Monday to Friday 9am-5pm).

There is also some useful information on our website to help you following a bereavement