Emily Racette Virtual Services Heart 2 Help Circle: Post 28 Another Year without Them The turning of a new year carries a weight that’s hard to explain unless you’ve lived it. For many, New Year’s is framed as a reset - a fresh start, a clean slate. But when you’re grieving, the calendar change can feel more like an awful reminder than a new beginning. Another year without your person. Another reminder that time keeps moving, even when part of your life feels permanently paused. There’s...
18 days ago • 1 min read
Emily Racette Virtual Services Heart 2 Help Circle: Post 27 When Holiday Traditions Carry Grief There’s no way around it - traditions change after loss. Some feel unbearable - too closely tied to the person who’s gone. Others suddenly feel sacred, even if they once felt ordinary. And some sit somewhere in between, heavy with memory but still hard to let go of. Christmas traditions often hold more than we realize, especially when we are grieving. They carry voices, routines, inside jokes,...
25 days ago • 1 min read
Emily Racette Virtual Services Heart 2 Help Circle: Post 26 When Christmas Keeps Coming Without Them Christmas has a way of continuing on, whether you’re ready or not. The lights still go up. The music still plays. People still gather, laugh, and talk about plans. From the outside, everything looks familiar - sometimes even comforting. But when you’re grieving, there’s a quiet disconnect that settles in. You’re present, but not fully. Participating, but carrying something heavy just beneath...
30 days ago • 1 min read
Emily Racette Virtual Services Heart 2 Help Circle: Post 25 Permission to Grieve Your Own Way If you've ever felt the sting of a well-meaning but totally frustrating question like, "Aren't you moving on yet?" or felt the silent, heavy pressure to "get back to normal," then you know one of the cruelest ironies of loss. As if the raw, crushing weight of grief itself isn't enough, we are often forced to contend with external judgment - a painful, subtle implication that we are handling our...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Emily Racette Virtual Services Heart 2 Help Circle: Post 24 The Gift of Grace: How to Navigate Gratitude When You’re Grieving The world often demands a performance of gratitude especially during the holiday season. We are told to count our blessings, list our abundance, and show up to the holiday with a full heart. But what happens when your heart feels completely broken by loss? What if the abundance you’re supposed to be celebrating only highlights the gaping hole left by this loss? This is...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
Emily Racette Virtual Services Heart 2 Help Circle: Post 23 Love's New Job: How Grief Becomes the Foundation of Legacy We often view grief as a subtraction - a profound absence, something we have lost. But if you sit with it long enough, you realize grief is an overwhelming addition: the addition of a new kind of consciousness, a new way of loving, and a meaningful way of living. I know without a doubt that I didn't lose my loved ones all at once; I lost them in pieces. Yet, I have also...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
Emily Racette Virtual Services Heart 2 Help Circle: Post 22 The Silent Burden: Rejecting the Performance of Strength in Grief I remember the pressure (in fact, just a month or so after my losses). I was asked to go on a girls day trip. Don't get me wrong - people meant well, asking me to go out, to grab some drinks, or just socialize with friends. Even now, three years later, I still don't want to go out. I am perfectly happy being around my immediate family in the comfort of my own home. And...
2 months ago • 1 min read
Emily Racette Virtual Services Heart 2 Help Circle: Post 21 The Timeline Myth: Why Your Grief Doesn't Follow Instructions The world loves a neat narrative. We expect a beginning, a middle, and a resolution. When it comes to grief, we internalize a certain script put on by society that says, "After X amount of time, you should be better." But if you’re living through loss, you know this script is a bold lie. There is no timeline for missing someone. Your grief doesn't follow instructions...
2 months ago • 1 min read
Emily Racette Virtual Services Heart 2 Help Circle: Post 20 My Heart Broke. My Purpose Grew Clearer: Why Taking The Long Way Is The Only Way To Heal Sometimes your heart knows the exact direction it needs to go - you just have to listen. For a long time now, I’ve felt a growing and undeniable calling to dedicate a part of my work to grief and trauma support. This quiet truth, awaken through my own experience, has made one thing clear: My Heart Broke. My Purpose Grew Clearer. I've always been...
3 months ago • 1 min read