It’s not easy to go through and not easy to talk about, but at some point in our lives, we all have to deal with grief, and a woman who grew up in Chicago’s northwest suburbs is using her experience to help others.<\/p>\n
It all began with a mother’s death, a daughter’s sadness, and a mission to create a community for people who are struggling. <\/p>\n
Kera Sanchez is editor-in-chief of Get Griefy Magazine, which is dedicated to helping people living with grief find solace, inspiration, and a sense of community.<\/p>\n
In June of 2022, Sanchez experienced a traumatic loss.<\/p>\n
“I was actually in the NICU with my youngest daughter, and I had received a phone call that my mom had unexpectedly passed away in Italy. She was on vacation with friends and my father,” she said. “My mom was actually there for birth of my daughter. Yeah, I remember joking with her that, ‘Mom, you’re going to have to babysit when you get home.'”<\/p>\n
Sanchez says the world hadn’t prepared her for such severe loss. <\/p>\n
“I turned to the internet to see the stories of other people that were maybe a few steps ahead of me,” she said. “I felt inspired by the fact they were doing beautiful things with their grief. They were using their grief as a springboard to start something that was almost like a legacy project.”<\/p>\n
Sanchez created her own legacy project to honor her mother and to bring comfort to people in the same situation. It’s an online and print publication she named Get Griefy.<\/p>\n
“It came pretty quickly to me. I was in the shower, and just ruminating on these things, and I just started that day,” she said. “My husband came downstairs and saw me working at my computer, and he said, ‘What are you doing?’ And I said, ‘I’m writing a letter from the editor,’ and he’s like, ‘What are you talking about?’ I’m like, ‘I’m starting a magazine.'”<\/p>\n
Two years since she launched the magazine, Get Griefy now has 10,000 readers online and in print. \u00a0<\/p>\n
It’s not only about death.<\/p>\n
“There’s grief of all different types of things. Career loss or change, pet loss,” she said. “Parents divorcing, or family members having to leave the country, break-ups with their boyfriends and girlfriends.<\/p>\n
Get Griefy is working on a future issue on women’s issues, <\/p>\n
“All of the types of grief women go through,” Sanchez said. “Infertility, child and infant loss, divorce, a loss of identity.”<\/p>\n
Get Griefy offers online seminars and virtual support circles. In print, there are articles focusing on everything from support groups to celebrities’ stories, and even advice on how to navigate grief with laughter.<\/p>\n
“Some of our most popular most shared content is just kind of poking fun at the trauma that we’re going through,” Sanchez said. “It’s not easy, but bringing light to it I think really makes things a lot easier for people.”<\/p>\n
In so many ways, Get Griefy is simply about embracing your truth.<\/p>\n
“It’s something that’s extremely beneficial to be able to tell your story in a safe space,” Sanchez said. “Community is everything. Finding other people that have gone through something similar that you have, it just normalizes your experience. It makes you feel less isolated and less alone.”<\/p>\n
Sanchez has made many friends in the Get Griefy community.<\/p>\n
“We’ve gone on trips together. We’ve met in person,” she said. “We all collaborate on so many pieces of content together.”<\/p>\n
Sanchez said her late mom is still her number one collaborator.<\/p>\n
“It’s not just my project. It’s our project,” she said. “I’d give it all back to have my mom back, but that’s just not how it works, and so I feel like I am doing the best that I can, personally, to still continue to live a life of full of joy, that’s full of zest and inspiring to others, and I’m leading by example that, just because you go through something traumatic, it doesn’t mean that you have to stay stuck in that loss forever.”<\/p>\n
Sanchez said she started her journey by journaling. It was a good way to start exploring her feelings.<\/p>\n
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