November 18, 2025: Grief at the Holidays

Voices of Resistance welcomed the Betsy Kammarud, director of the Hospice Savannah Demere Center for Living, and her staff, Taylor, Michael, and Jordan, to talk about grief, and particularly grief at the holidays.  First, I told my story--meeting Albert, falling in love, having almost 5 amazing years together, his death, and my grief.   We talked about grief, the process of living with the loss of a loved one, particularly a spouse or partner.  We are left to manage the holidays without our loved one, as well as the anticipation of that (anticipatory grief), which is often worse than experiencing the holiday.  Although there are stages of grief, grief is not a linear progression; there are good days and bad, sadness of loss and joy for that love we had in our lives.

Hospice Savannah is the only hospice here that offers comprehensive grief services to children and adults, including those who had not been hospice patients, including its weekly Spouse/Partner Loss Group.   Its YouTube channel offers Grief at the Holidays and other information and services at https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Hospice+Savannah.  The Hospice Savannah Demere Center is located at 6000 Business Center Drive off Chatham Parkway.  On Sunday, December 7 at 5:15 pm the public is invited to the Tree of Light Ceremony.  If you have recently experienced the death of a loved one, come to this ceremony and give that person's name to a Hospice staff person and his/her name will be read at the ceremony, where you can light a candle; light the memories.

Betsy reminded us of this quote from David Eagleman:     "There are three deaths. The first is when the body ceases to function. The second is when the body is consigned to the grave. The third is that moment, sometime in the future, when your name is spoken for the last time."   Say your loved one's name.  Say the name.

Next week, 2 members of the Spouse/Partner Loss Group will talk about how they are volunteering, giving back as they travel from grief to gratitude.