Excerpt from "Hymn for the Hurting" by Amanda Gorman

May we not just grieve, but give:
May we not just ache, but act;
May our signed right to bear arms
Never blind our sight from shared harm;
May we choose our children over chaos.
May another innocent never be lost.

Maybe everything hurts,
Our hearts shadowed & strange.
But only when everything hurts
May everything change.

Amanda Gorman is a Poet Laurette and the author of “The Hill We Climb,” “Call Us What We Carry” and “Change Sings.”
 

By Sarafina, age 15

“To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” (2018) is one of my favorite films. It’s based on the book by Jenny Han and is a teen romantic comedy on Netflix directed by Susan Johnson and written by Sofia Alvarez. It’s the first film in a trilogy, about a girl in high school named Lara Jean Song Covey, who writes secret love letters to her crushes. These letters end up causing major chaos in her life!

Lara Jean, along with her sisters, is also dealing with her mom passing away the year before. You can just see them going through all the hardships and really struggling because they want to ask their mom for advice when they don’t know what to do. I feel like it’s so relatable, especially for me (my dad died) and others who are grieving. We just want to ask our loved ones who died for help! It’s a really great movie, and I highly recommend it
 

by Ann, age 13

I love the song "Everybody Hurts" by R.E.M., which was written to try to prevent more teens from dying by suicide. Even though this isn't specifically about grief, I think that the lyrics can be interpreted towards grief. I especially love these lines: 

When your day is long 
And the night, the night is yours alone 
When you're sure you've had enough 
Of this life, we'll hand on 
 
Don't let your self go 
Cause everybody cries 
Everybody hurts sometimes 

In my opinion I think these lyrics are saying that when you've had enough and think it will never get better, it's ok and normal to cry and express your emotions. For all of us who grieve, this is definitely true!
 

We love this sentiment written by @empowered_through_grief:

"I talk about him because I am the 

memory keeper of a life that exists only in my mind.

I talk about him to remember & honour

who he was and his impact in this world.

I will always talk about him because for 

me, he's still here, weaved into 

everything I am and do."

Yes, yes, yes! And if you happen to be a non-griever reading this: if you are uncomfortable when we grievers bring up our person who died, please know that we are honoring that person and our relationship with them. Please make space for this, even if makes you a little uncomforable.