Blog | Grief Coach

Happy to be sharing Lantern's warm, accessible and practical funeral planning and grief resources with Grief Coach subscribers.

Emma Payne · 12 October 2019 Grief Support Bereavement

Some partnerships take months & months to forge, and then there are the ones that make sense right away. I'm so pleased to have met Liz Eddy, founder of Lantern.co

Virginia Mason's Grief Services team now offering Grief Coach subscriptions to their clients.

Emma Payne · 8 October 2019 Grief Support

Virginia Mason's Grief Services clients in Seattle can now receive personalized, text-based support from Grief Coach.

How text messages are helping a mom prepare for her high school reunion.

Emma Payne · 29 September 2019 Grief Support Loss of a Parent Mom

"The messages you've been sending my Mom have been extremely helpful. Her last text was especially relevant as she's getting ready to go to her high school reunion, where she'll see classmates who knew my father. She is preparing herself to share the story of my father’s death with them, and your messages are helping."

Grief Coach's new partnership with GiveInKind.

Emma Payne · 24 September 2019 Grief Support Media Sympathy Gift

Grief Coach subscriptions are thoughtful, long-lasting sympathy gifts, now offered in partnership with GiveInKind, a company that makes it easy for people to coordinate schedules, create wishlists, and even pull funds together, when someone they care about needs a little extra help. GiveInKind sites are a lovely way for friends and family to support someone who is grieving.

Supporting a friend after a stillbirth.

Emma Payne · 20 September 2019 Stillbirth Grief Support

A few months ago a young woman purchased a Grief Coach subscription when her baby was stillborn. She was devastated about the loss of her son, but was also struggling with feelings of isolation. Her best friend had flown across the country to help with the new baby, but when she found herself dealing with a death instead of a birth, she left, claiming: “I don’t know how to be with you when you’re like this.”

You’re grieving. You’re overwhelmed. But when people ask how they can help, you draw a blank.

Emma Payne · 28 August 2019 Grief

Are flowers and casseroles what you really want when you’re grieving? Probably not. Here’s how to get the invaluable support you need after a loss. I’ll never forget a conversation I had with my friend Alison the week after my husband died. I had just moved from the UK to Canada, and was getting set up in a hastily booked apartment. Alison asked me what I needed. “Nothing,” I said, unable to think straight about much of anything. “Do you have any sheets to sleep on tonight?” she asked. “No,” I said. “How about plates or utensils or food?” she continued. “No, I don’t have those either.” We laughed, and Alison proceeded to do the thinking for me. I was lucky.

How text messages can help hospices — and all of us — support our grieving loved ones.

Emma Payne · 2 August 2019 Hospice Bereavement Outcomes

Now hospices can meet the growing demand for bereavement support with regular tips and reminders delivered via text Since launching Grief Coach, I’ve been asked time and time again if I find it depressing doing this work. The answer is always, always no. I don’t find this work depressing — in fact, I’ve never been happier at work than I am today.

How I learned to help the grieving one text message at a time

Emma Payne · 16 July 2019 Grief Grief Support

On my flight home from my friend's funeral, I thought about the fear and discomfort that had kept people from reaching out when my husband died a decade earlier. Their distance had hurt me, but I now knew that it had hurt them too. For over a decade, people I cared very much about had been carrying around guilt and shame. It all seemed so unnecessary. I knew we could do better.