In A New Tradition, Bedford Will Share Grief As Neighbors

BEDFORD, NY — Joy can unite neighbors, but it is the compassion in times of grief that makes a community unbreakable.

This year, for the first time, the Town of Bedford will honor National Grief Awareness Day with a town-wide memorial gathering on August 30, at the Bedford Hills Park Pavilion.

Bedford resident and grief specialist, Barri Leiner Grant will help to lead the events.

National Grief Awareness Day takes place each year on August 30, with the mission to educate people on grief and create space for loss. Angie Cartwright founded National Grief Awareness Day in 2014.

Anyone who is grieving any kind of loss is welcome. If you have lost a loved one, have been estranged from a friend or loved one or experienced loss through divorce, you are welcome to join Grant, who is the founder of The Memory Circle, to observe this day of reflection and remembrance in community and candlelight.

The events will take place at Bedford Hills Memorial Park Pavilion, from 6 p.m. - 7:30 p.m., rain or shine.

"Whether it has been a day or a decade, this gathering is a way to commemorate loss of every kind," Grant said. "Grief deserves to be seen, heard and witnessed and we are making a space for this moment of grief tending."

Grant is inviting everyone to "come honor yourself and your grief on this national day of reflection," on behalf of the Town of Bedford. Attendees will be able to take part in readings and reflection of loss in a dedicated way and meaning filled experience, according to the organizers.

"When we come together as a community to honor the grief of others, we become a more empathic collective," Bedford Town Supervisor Ellen Calves said. "Knowing who among community may need our support or share a similar loss is the very fabric of neighboring one another."

About Barri Leiner Grant

Barri Leiner Grant is a Bedford Village resident and a Certified Grief Coach, ICF. Her work has been featured in The Washington Post, essays on Zibby Magazine, in a wide range of media and, locally, at the Katonah Village Library, the Katonah Reading Room, the Bedford Post and Chabad of Bedford.