“I knew I would need grief support and that my children would need it,” says Latrice Bennett, Samaritan Caregiver.
A Life Changing Diagnosis
John’s health declined quickly. Latrice, recognizing that he needed hospice care, reached out to Samaritan to care for John. Her grandmother had been cared for by Samaritan, and her mom let her know “Samaritan is the best.” And after her experience with John’s care team, Latrice felt the same.
John’s Samaritan care team provided medical equipment, compassionate clinical support, and resources. Additionally, his care team let her know about grief support resources available to the family.
They let her know that they were “always here” should the family need support. After John’s passing when the family needed bereavement support, Samaritan was there.
The Many Faces of Grief
Latrice turned to The Samaritan Center for Grief Support to help with bereavement. From the moment of John’s diagnosis, she placed the children in therapy to help them understand the emotionally difficult situation.
After his passing, the family attended Samaritan’s Healing Hearts grief support group for families & children, Latrice attended Spousal Loss groups, and to round it off, she and some of her children – Julia, Joelle, James, and Jaylen – also attended individual counseling sessions. The children felt at ease with their counselors and shared the feelings they were experiencing after the loss of their father.
The counseling and grief groups helped meet the family’s emotional need as they began to process life after the loss of John.
For Latrice, she not only had to navigate her own grief, but also be there for her children. She credits the help of her community and her bereavement counseling for helping her navigate this period.
Samaritan Bereavement Counselor Lynn helped Latrice with the unexpected emotions that her grief surfaced. From John’s diagnosis to his passing everything had happened so quickly, that it left Latrice reeling. She spoke with Lynn about the guilt she felt and the worries she had, “Lynn was very supportive. She gave me the sense of self to let me know that it was okay to feel how I felt. As I questioned if I did everything right by husband.”
Additionally, in their sessions, Latrice felt free to cry, something she had felt ashamed of doing at first. Lynn let her know that it was not weak and helped her work through the complex emotions she was experiencing. To sum up the experience Latrice says, “She was a blessing.”
Parenting Through Grief
There are days when her grief feels easier and days when it’s not easy at all. Latrice is not rushing herself or her kids to “get over” grief. She and the children cuddle together sometimes taking comfort in each other. They talk about John, Latrice answers their questions about his sudden passing, and they remember him and all the love he had for them.
Grief is not Linear, but Keep Going
Grief is not a linear journey. For Latrice grief is not something she looks at with an end goal, but she knows that it is important to keep living. Latrice cataloged her feelings in her book, Transitions. She is grateful for the support she received and encourages other caregivers to not let guilt stop them from living. There may be guilt surrounding the feeling of life continuing to go on after the loss of a loved one, but it is more than okay to push through and not let grief keep you from living life.
She says, “Grief is something that we navigate through not something that you have to get over.”