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About Kelly
Supporting you through your healing journey.
Grieving Gracefully Started with my Own Grief.
Hi, I’m Kelly — founder of Grieving Gracefully and a Certified Grief Coach.
But before any of that, I was a daughter who had to learn how to live in a world without both of her parents.
I lost my dad in 2013.
Nine years later, on December 20, 2022, just days before Christmas, I unexpectedly lost my mom, Susan.
I had already experienced the loss of a parent. I knew what it was like to miss my dad through birthdays, holidays, milestones and all the ordinary days in between.
But when my mom died, something felt different.
I became parentless.
And I wasn't prepared for what that would do to me.
I didn't Know Who I was Anymore...
My parents were the two people who brought me into this world, and suddenly I was living in a world where neither of them was here anymore.
I felt completely lost.
It wasn't only “I miss my mom” or “I miss my dad.”
It was this much bigger feeling that I struggled to put into words:
Who am I without my parents here?
No matter how old I was, I was still their daughter.
I had my own life. I was a mom myself. I had people I loved and people who loved me. But there was something about knowing my parents existed in this world with me that I don't think I fully appreciated until they didn't.
I had never really thought about what it would feel like to live the rest of my life in a world where neither of my parents existed.
And suddenly, I had no choice but to figure it out.
I wasn't only grieving them.
I was trying to understand who I was now that they were gone.
And then there were all the little things.
Grief taught me very quickly that we don't only miss the big moments.
Sometimes we miss the most ordinary things the most.
The phone calls. The text messages. Telling them something that happened that day.
Asking their advice. Hearing their voice.
That instinct to pick up your phone because something happened and they're still the first person you want to tell.
I kept my mom's messages. I held onto memories and found myself noticing pieces of her everywhere.
Lilacs. Purple. Vanilla and lavender. Her shortbread.
Little things that suddenly carried so much more meaning because they were connected to her.
And as life continued changing around me, I eventually realized something:
I didn't necessarily want my old life back.
I wanted my parents here for the life I have now.
I wanted them to see what happened next.
I wanted them here for the good things and the hard things.
I wanted them to see the person I was becoming.
And maybe you've felt that too.
Maybe you don't want to go backwards.
You just wish the person you love could have stayed long enough to be part of what came next.
That's where Grieving Gracefully began.
After losing my mom, I started talking more openly about grief and the things I was experiencing that I didn't hear enough people talking about.
The loneliness.
The changes in your relationships.
The guilt that can come with enjoying life again.
The milestones that don't feel the same.
The feeling that everyone else has gone back to normal while your definition of normal has completely changed.
And especially the question I was struggling with myself:
Who am I now?
As I started sharing, other people started reaching out.
They told me they felt the same way.
They told me they thought they were the only ones.
And I began to realize how many people were trying to navigate life after loss while quietly wondering who they were supposed to be now.
That's when Grieving Gracefully became more than my own story.
I became a Certified Grief Coach because I wanted to turn what I had lived through into a way of supporting others.
I wanted to create a space where people didn't have to pretend they were okay.
Where they could talk about the person they lost.
Where there wasn't a timeline.
Where having a good day didn't mean they were forgetting.
And where wanting a meaningful life again didn't mean they were leaving someone behind.
Because I Don't Believe We “Move On.”
I don't believe the goal is to get over someone we love.
And I don't believe moving forward means leaving them in the past.
I've had to learn that I can miss my parents and still live my life.
I can wish they were here and still experience joy.
I can carry the life I had with them while continuing to build the life I have now.
And I can become this new version of myself without forgetting the daughter I will always be.
My mom and dad are still part of who I am.
They're in my memories, the stories I tell, the things that unexpectedly remind me of them and the work I do today.
In many ways, they're woven into Grieving Gracefully too.
If you're wondering who you are now, you're in the right place.
Your loss may look completely different from mine.
Maybe you lost a parent, a partner, a child, a sibling, a friend or someone else who was such a big part of your life that you can't imagine who you're supposed to be without them.
Maybe it's been weeks.
Maybe it's been years.
Maybe you're functioning on the outside while privately wondering why you still feel so lost.
Or maybe you're starting to want more from life again, but part of you feels guilty for moving forward when they can't.
That's why Grieving Gracefully exists.
Not to help you forget.
Not to tell you who you should be now.
But to support you as you navigate the life you never expected to be living and begin discovering who you are within it.
Because losing someone we love can change us.
But continuing to live doesn't mean we're leaving them behind.
We learn to carry them with us.
Kelly
Founder, Grieving Gracefully.