- The holiday season can bring both cherished memories and difficult emotions, especially for those who have lost a loved one.

Joining us today is Laura Bradbury to discuss how preparing for those feelings can help make the season a little bit easier to navigate.

Thank you so much for being here.

- Thanks for having me, it's so good to be here.

- So there's an upcoming program happening called Grief in the Holidays with a pretty well known speaker you guys are bringing in.

Can you talk about that?

- Yeah, yeah, so every year in November, our program Caring Connections offers this community event to help people prepare for the holiday season.

We know the holiday season can be difficult even under the best of circumstances, but when we're grieving somebody special, somebody who has died, that can make things even more complicated.

So we offer this event called Grief in the Holidays in early November every year.

And this year we have a guest speaker by the name of Dominic Moore.

He's a member of The Lower Lights music group and also physician with a lot of experience and lots of really inspirational stories about supporting people and navigating the grief experience himself.

So he will be our speaker and it's just a lovely time for people to come together in community in preparation for the holiday season.

- And that's a part of it, right, community.

I know people might be like, "Grief in the holidays, I don't want to go to an event and feel sad."

But this is so much more than that, right?

- It is so much more than that.

And you're invited to come to this event and feel whatever you might be feeling.

It might include some sadness, but it may also include some connection and it may also include moments of meaningful memories and maybe even a little bit of joy.

So we invite you with whatever feelings you might show up with.

- Yeah, and if people can't make it in person, there's also another option.

- There is.

We live stream it via Zoom as well.

So it's in person at the University of Utah campus at the College of Social Work.

We're really grateful for them for hosting us, but we offer a Zoom option for anybody who's not able to make it face to face.

- So come in person if you can for that community aspect and to see that you're not alone, but if it's not possible, you can also join by Zoom.

Thank you so much.

- We would absolutely love to see you.

- Thank you so much for stopping by.

If you would like to learn more about this upcoming event, we've got the details for you on our screen.

It's Caring Connections, Grief and the holidays, happening November 10th from 7:00 to 9:00 PM at the University of Utah College of Social Work.

Just head to nursing.utah.edu for more information.

I'm Liz Adeola, and thank you for watching Contact.

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Hi, I'm Liz Adeola, the host of Contact, a show that connects you with local events and organizations that serve your community.

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