Cruising Through Grief

Imagine a place where your grief doesn't need to be hidden, where joy and sorrow can peacefully coexist, and where everyone around you truly understands the weight you carry. That's the revolutionary concept behind The Grief Cruise, created by Linda Findlay after her own devastating loss of a newborn daughter more than three decades ago.

Linda shares her remarkable journey from bereaved mother to grief advocate, describing how the absence of support following her daughter's death inspired her to create aftercare programs for funeral homes across North America. "My daughter's legacy is my life's work," she explains, detailing how a two-hour life sparked a mission spanning four decades and helping countless grievers.

The Grief Cruise emerged from Linda's understanding that grievers often feel guilty about experiencing joy after loss. By creating a dedicated community of fellow mourners who gather on a beautiful ship with ocean views and tropical destinations, participants discover something transformative: permission to feel both their grief and moments of happiness simultaneously.

What makes this retreat uniquely powerful is its thoughtful balance. Workshops provide practical tools for navigating grief, while port excursions and shipboard activities offer natural opportunities for relaxation and connection. The carefully crafted opening ceremony links each participant with their lost loved one, carrying that presence throughout the journey. As one attendee discovered, the experience isn't about escaping grief but learning to navigate it with new perspectives and companions who truly understand.

Perhaps most remarkable is what happens after the cruise ends. The bonds formed during these retreats often last long past disembarkation, with many participants staying connected through Linda's free monthly virtual support group and returning for future cruises. "I know the cruise works because it was so hard to say goodbye to everybody," reflects podcast host Kathy, who experienced the most recent sailing both as a presenter and attendee.

Whether you're newly grieving or years into your journey, consider what might happen when you allow yourself to experience both the waves of grief and moments of joy, surrounded by others walking the same path. The next Grief Cruise sets sail February 2026 with a special 10th anniversary pre-cruise retreat—an opportunity to discover that healing isn't about leaving grief behind but learning to carry it more gently.

Contact:
www.asiliveandgrieve.com
info@asiliveandgrieve.com
Facebook:  As I Live and Grieve
Instagram:  @asiliveandgrieve
YouTube:  asiliveandgrieve
TikTok: @asiliveandgrieve

To Reach Linda:

Website:  https://www.mourningdiscoveries.com/the-grief-cruises

Credits: 
Music by Kevin MacLeod 

Copyright 2020, by As I Live and Grieve

The views expressed by guests are their own and their appearance on the program does not imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent. 

Transcript

Introducing As I Live and Grieve

Speaker 1 0:01

Welcome to as I Live and Grieve, a podcast that tells the truth about how hard this is. We're glad you joined us today. We know how hard it is to lose someone you love and how well-intentioned friends and family try so hard to comfort us. We created this podcast to provide you with comfort, knowledge and support. We are grief advocates, not professionals, not licensed therapists. We are you.

Speaker 2 0:27

Hi everyone, welcome back again to another episode of as I Live and Grieve Boy. The days are just skipping on by, aren't they? Spring has finally come in the northern part of the states and I am so looking forward every day to looking out and seeing the daffodils and the tulips and the crocuses just kind of peek up out of the soil. Spring is probably one of my favorite times, and I think it's because it signals kind of a rebirth, if you will, kind of a chance to start fresh. So let's keep that in mind, and I want to tell you that I have a great guest today. She's become a good friend of mine. With me today is Linda Findlay. Hi, linda, welcome. Thanks for joining me. Thank you, I'm happy to be here.

Speaker 3 1:08

Thank you.

Speaker 2 1:09

Absolutely. I met Linda recently when I went on the grief cruise. Y'all remember me talking about the grief cruise. Well, I was so awestruck, almost, by that experience myself that I just had to bring Linda on to tell you about it so that you could have my impression of it that you've heard and now you can kind of find out how it got started and everything. So, linda, to get us started, would you just tell our listeners a little bit about your background?

Meeting Linda Findlay: Her Grief Journey

Speaker 3 1:38

Okay, yes, I will. So I actually have been working in the funeral industry spanning four decades. My work in the funeral industry, spanning four decades, my work in the funeral industry, started with me actually losing my first daughter, and so, after she died, I at that time it was 34 years ago I found that there wasn't much support for people who were grieving, and I had a really hard time with my loss, the loss of my daughter. And so from there, I started to get to, you know, look into different resources that were available, and all I wanted to do in the beginning was to provide a resource and referral service for people who are grieving. So, in other words, I'd be able to go to one source, be able to look for different resources books, booklets, maybe.

Speaker 3 2:18

At that point, obviously there wasn't you know, internet that's how long I've been doing this.

Speaker 3 2:21

There wasn't the you know the web and all of that.

Speaker 3 2:24

And so from there, I went through a hospice training to become a grief support specialist and also a volunteer to work with dying patients as well, and I started meeting funeral directors through that process, and so I started asking them what do you do after your families are serviced?

Speaker 3 2:39

For those first three days and they said all of them said nothing, but we should do something, and so that was my inclination, that I was onto something, and so I started putting what I call they're called aftercare programs in the funeral industry, and basically what that is is that we follow families for at least a year after their loss, and that's all both through in-person, when I lived in upstate New York, and now most of my work is over the internet through Zoom and telephone calls and that kind of thing.

Speaker 3 3:05

And I also wrote a series of books in 2008 that I provide to the families through my funeral homes, and they're specifically written to be received at certain times during that first year, and so I take the role of making sure that families get that information. It's kind of like a proactive approach to grief support as opposed to families having to call someplace and try and get support, and I'm very blessed to have been able to work for over 250 funeral homes in 25 states and Canada. So that is my life's work. I say that my daughter's legacy is my life's work, and it continues to be all these years.

Speaker 2 3:39

Yeah, yeah, we tend to turn those experiences sometimes into a legacy, don't we? Yes, we do Go ahead. We call that turning pain into purpose. Turning pain into purpose, I like that. I like that expression. Was that the title of one of your books?

Speaker 3 3:53

No, actually it wasn't. My books are Warning Discoveries on Navigating Grief, from Grief to Healing, something like that. So yeah, okay.

Speaker 2 4:01

Maybe it's the title of your next book.

Speaker 3 4:05

No, so yeah, okay, maybe it's the title of your next book. No, no, I would have thought I would have wrote the five books that I did.

Speaker 2 4:09

Right, right Now. You mentioned it's been about 34 years since you lost your daughter. How old was your daughter when she died?

Speaker 3 4:17

She was a newborn. So she was born and she lived for two hours and 19 minutes, which is amazing that that would be the legacy that she does have for having been on the service for that amount of time. But we were told during my pregnancy that everything was fine, and then eventually they were saying that if anything was wrong, that they can fix whatever it is. That was wrong. So when she was born and had so many problems and they came to us and said you know, nothing is compatible with life. You can imagine what it is to hear those words. It's so definitive.

Speaker 2 4:46

you know what I mean and so, yeah, yeah, well, we have a parallel in that I lost an infant son who lived for just shy of 24 hours. But that experience for me was traumatic because once he was born he was well. First they said he was stillborn and then they came back and said he was alive, that they had a heartbreak and he was breathing, and then they took him off to another facility. But before they did that, they never let me see him, never let me hold him or touch him, and of course that was eons ago really and there were no smartphones so there was no way nobody took a picture of him. Even so, I have nothing. So for years I kind of went on like it never happened and it really wasn't until I started working on the podcast that that all came back.

Speaker 2 5:37

So I think I'm that's kind of a new grief for me even now. So my point was in asking the number of years was even though it's been 34 years, you are still grieving the loss of your daughter. That's correct. Yes, okay, because that's what we tell people is that grief is likely forever. I know in the four major losses I've had that I'm going to grieve until the day I die. Every loss has been a little different. Probably the loss of my husband most recently was the most difficult one. But again, everyone is different and I'm a different person as well, so I feel things differently.

Speaker 2 6:14

Yeah, okay, let's get to the cruise. I was totally unaware that a grief cruise existed until one of my guests, for Scythia, existed, until one of my guests, versithia, mentioned it to me. And then she's the one that connected me with you and very quickly we linked up, hooked up and I said well, you know, if you need another presenter, I'm ready to do that. And you took me on and I became part of the crew that hosted this grief cruise. I was, and I was both an attendee, because of my experience, and I was a presenter, which was kind of a unique experience, but I loved it, and I think one of the things I loved the most is the community that developed out of this group that was on the cruise.

Speaker 2 7:06

And here we are well, a month after we've all docked and I'm seeing their posts on Facebook. They're reaching out to me by text or by email and I'm just kind of really, really amazed at, in that short time, how this community develops. What is there about a cruise and bringing together a group of grievers? That makes it so special? Do you have any thoughts?

Speaker 3 7:33

oh, I'm, yeah, I have lots of thoughts about that actually. You know, obviously, when I started to create this and put this together, I had no idea what the outcome would be, or the recession to that, but it is amazing. First off, I'd like to say that you can't possibly know what the experience is until you experience it yourself. I have not been able to adequately describe it to people which you might attest to, but I think what it is is that people come together. First off, when we're grieving, we're worried about doing something that gives us some joy, right, so we feel guilty sometimes, feel like, you know, we're dishonoring our loved ones because we're doing something fun.

Speaker 3 8:07

What happens and takes place with this cruise is that people are joining us and knowing that they're going to be with a community of other grievers, and so that takes that guilt part off of that. Oh, I'm going on vacation after my loved one died, and so I think what people experience the most while on the cruise is that joy and grief can coexist. So that, I think, is the specialness about it that we're on this beautiful ship going to these beautiful ports. There's something to be said about being on the ocean right, the healing Absolutely, and just being with others and not having to wear your mask, not having to pretend that you're not grieving, not having to pretend, oh, I'm on vacation. That is all taken away. And then we find that our group somewhat immediately bonds First night that we come together, even when we start out with dinner that first night, and then we meet for our opening session after dinner and it's just amazing how people just immediately bond and see others around them that are grieving and they're on a cruise, and so I think the two together, you know, having an experience that is really relaxing and beautiful, and then putting into that the workshops and the seminars and the sessions and things like that, it's just again, I can't adequately describe what that does for people.

Speaker 3 9:19

It just opens up opportunity for an entire week for this past cruise anyhow to have that space to grieve but yet have that space to meet other people and enjoy what's around you. And our workshops are always informational, interactive, and so they do learn. We tell people that they hopefully go home with a toolbox that they can use some tools that maybe might help them to continue on their journey in a healthier way. And so, yeah, I mean it's just a really, really special. I call it an event, but it's actually an ultimate grief retreat is what I say it is.

Speaker 2 9:51

It is. It is a retreat, and the way you've developed it. Though now going on a cruise, everybody thinks, oh well, maybe you've never been on a cruise before. So one of the things that's exciting, of course, is going to these different ports and doing the shopping or going to a beach. Heaven knows, some of us in this country crave those beaches and that sunshine, but you design the cruise so that you don't have workshops at the same time that there is that opportunity to go to the beach. So it's really very creative how you've done that.

Speaker 2 10:29

So people can combine that joy and that experience of being in a grief retreat. They can combine it and they can also being able to go to port like that gives them a little break. It's not like you're going to a three-day conference where all you're going to do is be mired, so to speak, in your grief. It's not like that. You have these little snippets of workshops and then you have time to go off on the ship and do something else Catch a trivia game, go dance, go sit by the pool, go in the heavenly saltwater pool. How?

Speaker 1 11:03

nice is that.

Speaker 2 11:05

Or just sit in the sunshine on your balcony, because all of the cabins that you booked for people were all Ocean View balcony cabins. That was the first cruise I've ever been on that I had a balcony.

Speaker 2 11:17

Oh, yeah, and I loved it and I loved it and it was just really nice to sit there in that gorgeous weather. It was absolutely beautiful in the Caribbean. I remember the first day we all got together was for an opening ceremony and part of that ceremony was linking each attendee with the person they've lost, and I thought that was an excellent way to give purpose to why you're there. You're not really there to have fun on a cruise. Your intention in coming on this cruise was really to get some help and some support while grieving. So that connection with that loved person gave everybody the opportunity to take that person with them when they had all the fun on the cruise. They could stand by the deck, go in the pool, go to the beach, and that loved one was there with them in their thoughts.

What Makes the Grief Cruise Special

Speaker 2 12:10

That's right Because of the opening ceremony. Yeah, that was wonderful. The workshops were great. I love Brent's take on it, where he always had to take his shoes off because we need to be grounded. Yeah, some of those little things that stay with you Now. Have you had other cruises in the past? This was, I think, your fifth cruise is that right?

Speaker 3 12:30

It was our fifth. We should have had six, but in 2020, we were canceled because of COVID.

Speaker 2 12:35

Because of COVID. So your fifth cruise. Are each of them the same or are they different in things like the opening, closing ceremonies, workshops, etc. Same or different?

Speaker 3 12:47

Well, we have pretty much the same format. We have the opening session and we have closing ceremonies, workshops, et cetera, same or different. Well, we have pretty much the same format. You know, we have the opening session and we have the closing session, and we always try to do our walk to remember there's certain things that we incorporate into all of them. But then there's been different, you know, obviously different topics, different presenters, different activities and workshops that people can participate in. We try and change that up a little bit because we do get people who have come right along. You know they join each cruise and so we try and do some things a little different.

Speaker 3 13:13

Back in 2019, I had 17 presenters. It was like we found out then that we don't need 17 presenters because it was just so much content and so much time. And again, people still. You know, we only did our seminars on the days we're out to sea, but the format's basically the same as far as the activities and the session topics, that kind of changes because, again, we like to have a broad offering for our families. So, yeah, I think it's evolved in the sense that I've learned a lot and our presenters have learned. You know, each time we do another cruise, we learn something new that can enhance the next one, maybe a little bit better. And and I say you know, we're never probably going to perfect it, but it's pretty perfect for what it is. So, yeah, it's just been an amazing opportunity to create this cruise and open it up to people who really want to experience what we have to offer.

Speaker 3 14:03

And I always say, you know, when people call, initially they're worried that it's going to be a doom and gloom. Let's cry for seven days cruise. And I assure people that, again, I can't adequately describe the experience because, again, each person's experience is going to be unique to them. And so, but I tell them, you know, we are a message of hope. We want people to walk off that ship and feel like I can do this, I have some tools, I can do this a little bit better. Are we going to take people's grief away? We are not.

Speaker 3 14:29

You said in the beginning of our chat today is that you know, grief is a lifelong experience, and I don't tell people that. And I tell them this. I don't tell you this to scare you. I tell this to you to be honest. Does that mean that you're in that place, that you were during that first year or second year for the rest of your life? No, it does not mean that we do work through our grief and get to a place where we can, like I said, joy and grief can coexist, and so, again, this cruise really creates an opportunity to meet people where they're at as far as their grief and then to just follow them and be with them that week and provide this opportunity for them to really bond with others, learn, enjoy their surroundings, and it just really is just a wonderful experience.

Speaker 2 15:11

Yeah, and I enjoyed too. Now we all had dinner in the same area, in the dining room. We were a large enough group that we couldn't all sit at one table certainly, but it was fun. Table hopping every night and talking to different people. That was fun too. Now I have a question for you. I know the answer but our listeners don't yet. So I want to ask it very innocently Do people ever come back for a second cruise with you?

Speaker 3 15:37

Oh, yes, we have many people who have been with us from the beginning, many people who maybe couldn't make the second one but came to the third one. So, yeah, I mean we do. People come back and it's more and more because we've really grown. Our first cruise we were 24 people, and I think included in that 24 people was like five presenters or something like that, and so it was a very small group and we've grown to, I think, the 2019, we had over a hundred people that came and then COVID hit and then, you know, the numbers went down. But this last cruise we had, I think it was 80 people came or something like that. And so we've really grown as far as you know the numbers of people. And we're getting out there, as far as what we're doing and strictly word of mouth, doing these kinds of things, talking to other people in this grief space and talking about the cruise and hoping that people would at least, you know, check it out, See if it's something that would be for them.

Speaker 2 16:29

Yeah, and I know people are getting something out of it, and the reason I know that is because I know some people come back for a second, third, fourth time but they still go to the workshops. It's not like they're just coming back because there's a decent price on this cruise and they get a balcony cabin. That might be part of the reason, but they come back and they still attend the workshops almost every single one of them and the special groups. You have some special groups. In the evening you usually do a craft or there might be a different support group, like for people who have lost their spouses or partners, people who have lost a child, things like that. So there are all these opportunities, and to see people that are back for the third and fourth time still show up at the workshops, I thought, oh my goodness, this is really working, this is really helping them, and I see people.

Speaker 2 17:25

The first day I think everybody was just a little bit timid. Yes, didn't know what to expect, everything like that. By the next day, the very next day, and I mean you get on the ship like noontime, yeah, early afternoon to mid-afternoon, so there's really only half a day. You're on the ship by the next morning. There were fast friendships forming in this group there really were and you'd see people walking somewhere on deck, either in Central Park that was my favorite place walking through and you know a hello or a hug, or you'd catch up on some other little tidbit or something like that, and it was just so much. Okay, I'm going to say it, it was so much fun. At the same time, there was such incredible support. Yes, do you hear from people after they get back? Do they continue to stay in touch with you throughout the year?

Community Building and Lasting Connections

Speaker 3 18:20

Oh, they do, Absolutely, not only them connecting and checking in themselves. I have a monthly support group that I started after the 23 grief cruise because it had been suggested. You know we're going to go home, is there any kind of support? And obviously I tell people, as do the presenters, we're all available for cruise to help continue to support you. But I started the support group and so I have people that have come consistently to the support group since 2023. So you know, that is a nice again opportunity for people to come together and see each other again and continue our journey together, and so that has been really one of the better things that came out of doing this cruise is actually that specific support group for families that have come with us. And I do get other people, you know, because then they spread the word and I tell people you don't have to have had gone on the cruise to go to the support group, because obviously I have a lot of people who call about the cruise and, for whatever reasons, can't go, so I always offer that to them as well. You know it's giving them some opportunity for support as opposed to saying, oh, I really can't make it, make it the cruise, but they can still access the support. So, yeah, and I find a very good following with that, people and friendships are made.

Speaker 3 19:29

I, when I I take that first phone call, which was really important to me in the beginning of this whole journey with the cruise, is that I wanted from that first phone call I felt was the experience of the grief cruise and then from there how I follow families and take care of them and take care of their travel plans and arrangements and all of that.

Speaker 3 19:45

You know they don't have to talk to anybody else, which you know when you're grieving it's too much work even to, you know, make that effort to talk to one person. And so that was my first plan for this was that people would talk to me, I would walk with them until you know, then meet them on the ship and then be there within that whole week. So that friendship or that connection started long ago. I've got people who you know a year in advance and so keeping in touch with them, they're checking in and it just and it just continues afterwards. So, yeah, I think it's really important from that and again, I say that as the first experience is that first phone call and then from there.

Speaker 2 20:19

So it's possible then for someone to join your monthly group just to kind of get an idea of how they might feel about a group that goes on a cruise, and I'm sure there's probably a lot of conversation about experiences on the cruise that come up in these groups.

Speaker 3 20:35

right, it does, it does. And again, I tell people we don't spend a lot of time at all talking about the grief cruise during that time because, again, I think that that's a time for support for families. I don't want it. I didn't want it to become like an advertisement for the grief cruise, and so that's why I tell people, if they've looked into the grief cruise, I offer it to them. It's on the grief cruise website.

Speaker 3 20:55

Sign up for a monthly group and I always say at the beginning that you don't have to have gone on a cruise to be here. You don't have to be planning to go on a cruise with us. This is just for you. And, of course, if somebody asks questions and things like that and then I do have people have gone on the cruise again, they're following up with one another. But the conversation does really revolve around grief and that support. It doesn't revolve around cruise itself. Obviously, most of these people have experienced it, so they know what it was about. So, yeah, and if there's any curiosity, I tell people I'll call you after we're done with this and I'll give you more information because I don't want to take too much of that time. You know if I can take a minute out of that. That's not too much.

Speaker 2 21:31

And is there a charge for your monthly group?

Speaker 3 21:33

No, it's free of charge. Anybody can join. It doesn't matter any loss, any time frame. There's no. As long as you experience the loss of a loved one to death, they're there. So you're welcome to be there.

Speaker 2 21:44

Okay, I'm going to repeat that listeners, just to make sure you heard that this monthly virtual support group that Linda offers there is no charge for that, and in the podcast notes, of course, will be the information on how you can get to that website and the link to connect to that monthly group is there. Yes, it's free. So I encourage you to reach out. You will probably not find anyone more empathetic and compassionate than Linda. I want to say that I saw the extent to which this woman put her heart and soul and her husband joined in with his heart and soul for this community of grievers. That was on this cruise ship and it was totally, it was impressive, it was amazing. Like I say, I was kind of awestruck by the entire experience. I truly was, and I've connected with some people that probably will I'll stay in touch with for the rest of my life, just because we've kind of reached out, made a connection.

Speaker 2 22:48

One of them was a guest on the podcast, steve Moore. Oh, okay, it was on my podcast. We did an episode on when the grief therapist becomes the grieving therapist. Okay, to talk about differences and the pressures that therapists go through when they have experiences like that as well. Some amazing people, amazing community and an amazing experience. So, linda, this is about the time that I'm going to turn the microphone over to you now. That doesn't mean I may not have any more questions, because I almost always still have questions, but I'm going to turn the microphone over to you and let you tell people how to connect with you, keeping in mind that the information will also be in the podcast notes, so listeners don't have to run and grab a pen. They can listen to it, then look at the podcast notes and connect with you that way as well. So the floor is yours.

2026 Grief Cruise Details and Offerings

Speaker 3 23:43

Okay. Well, our next grief cruise is booked for February of 2026. And we sail out of Port Canaveral, florida, february 23rd to the 27th, and it is a four night cruise. That's a little different. We've done seven night cruises. In the beginning we did a three night. People said that wasn't enough. We did a five night. People said it wasn't long enough, and then we went into the seven night.

Speaker 3 24:07

So now we're going back to the four night only because we have this brand new ship, the utopia of the seas, to rural caribbean, and I was able to get the meeting space. Um, it's real important what the meeting space is on the ship. I think you can attest to that. We want a safe place, we want a nice, you know, atmosphere and besides, the fact it was freezing on this cruise, but anyways, we want that space, and so that was the only available. You know I plan these cruises 18 to 24 months in advance. I've been doing this it'll be 10 years in 2026. And so we weren't able to go out every year like clockwork. It all depends on the type of ship that I'm looking for, and so we chose Utopia of the Seas. I did a ship inspection back six months ago or whatever, it was Beautiful ship, the space was beautiful, and again, we all have balcony cabins with a great price.

Speaker 3 24:49

And so what we're doing different in honor of our 10th year is that we are offering a two night, three day pre-cruise retreat that we're going to be offering to our guests prior to getting on board on the 23rd, so that starts the 21st to the 23rd. We're going to have two nights and three days again of we have our presenters coming in, we're going to do our sessions, our activities, we're going to spend that time together. There's going to be plenty of beach time. The hotel that we chose is right on the beach so people can come in for that prior to boarding the ship. And then also the other piece of that is that that pre-cruise retreat is also available to anybody who can either drive in for the day or close enough to be able to drive in and join us just for the retreat part of it. They don't even have to have an overnight stay if they're close enough. I also have people that are just going to do that pre-cruise retreat, those couple of days with us.

Speaker 3 25:39

And then again the opportunity for those particularly coming a little bit further away, because I did get those comments on the last cruise. People were like I really don't want to go to Florida for just four nights. It has nothing to do with not wanting to go on the grief cruise, but you know, to fly from Minnesota down to Florida for four nights is probably they would like more, and so I. That was another reason for adding it. And again I thought it was a special thing to do for our 10th year is to have that pre-cruise retreat. And so again we're departing our Port Canaveral, florida.

Speaker 3 26:06

We have a hotel in Cocoa Beach where our workshops and our two night and three day sessions will take place, and that also on those two nights and three days, does include two dinners, two breakfasts and one lunch. So that is included in all of that, so you don't have the added expense. And then obviously they have the shuttle. They'll take all of us right to the ship on the 23rd and again, we start our time together, this pre-cruise retreat, and then we continue on to our four night cruise. So basically that's the information for it.

Speaker 3 26:34

And, as Kathy, as you said, you know my website is thegriefcruisescom and everything is on there All the information about the pricing, the grief support group, if anybody wants to attend that, and that is the second Wednesday of every month, so that'll be rememberable for people.

Speaker 3 26:50

The second Wednesday of every month is that grief support group.

Speaker 3 26:53

So yeah, and again I like to say that we come together as a group, we spend that time together and we do really learn, I think, in addition to people leaving us with a renewed sense of hope.

Speaker 3 27:06

I think again they really recognize what it means to know that joy and grief can coexist, because they did it for a week and this time they're going to do it for six nights. They're going to learn again and it's going to affirm to them that I really can enjoy things in my life without feeling guilty and sad. So that's the basically the information. Just, people just need to contact me and I'm happy to talk to anybody. You know I always tell people there's no obligation to book and sometimes people don't, and then again they can access the support anyhow. And access me and that's really the bottom line for me is the more people we can reach out to and and provide that space for support, whether it's talking to me on the phone, going to the group or actually participating in the grief cruise or the pre-grief cruise retreat there's that support available for people.

Speaker 2 27:53

Well, and I'm going to echo what Linda has said, this is an opportunity that, as a griever, you really should think about it and with the upcoming retreat in February of next year, I still think you should advertise it as a surf and turf retreat. Not that you're going to feed them surf and turf, but just the fact that it combines land and sea much like a surf and turf dish does. At any rate, whether you could go for the entire thing or just the land component or just the cruise but really really think about it. A lot of people spend lots of money on certain things that are going to cure them or heal them of your grief. This is a way, as Linda says, that you can find out that it's okay to combine the joy and the sadness. It's okay and in fact it makes you a stronger person and it will help you heal in your grief in a stronger fashion.

Encouraging Self-Care Through Shared Experience

Speaker 2 28:53

And I know, I know it works. I know you make a connection with other people like you, other people that are grieving just like you are. They may have lost a child and you lost a spouse. They may have lost a parent and you lost a spouse or a child, it doesn't matter. The connection is there, that you have suffered this devastating loss that has just completely turned your life upside down, and I know the cruise works because it was so hard to say goodbye to everybody. I know it was so hard to say goodbye. You'd give hugs at the closing ceremony and then the next morning you'd see them as they were on their way to depart the ship and you had to get one more hug in.

Speaker 3 29:38

That's right One more hug.

Speaker 2 29:39

Just one more hug Every time you saw them. There's one person I saw three different times the morning of departure and we hugged every single time. It's hard to leave. So on that note, saying it's hard to leave, it's always hard to end these podcasts too, because I always enjoy the conversation so much.

Speaker 2 29:58

So, linda, I want to thank you so much for joining us today and for sharing information about the Grief Cruise. I will continue to promote it, to advertise it, to mention it and I do to everyone I know who is grieving. I suggest that they check it out. I know it may not be right for everybody, it may not be the time, but hey, if not 2026, maybe 2027, because Linda's probably going to keep them going for as long as she possibly.

Speaker 3 30:26

I'm hoping to. I'm hoping to you know it is. It is a lot of work setting them up, but it is well worth every second of effort that goes into it and I know you.

Speaker 2 30:35

You probably see, they feel so rewarded when you see these people. They go from crying in pain to crying with somewhat a bit of relief that things might be just a touch easier to think about, to talk about, to remember. So, at any rate, I need to go. Self-care is very important and certainly the grief cruise is an excellent, excellent method of self-care. Yes, it is. So take care everyone, and join us again next week as we all continue to live and grieve. Thanks again, Linda. Oh, you're so welcome. Thank you.

Speaker 1 31:13

Thank you so much for listening with us today. Do you have a topic that you'd like us to cover or do you have a question from one of our episodes? Please email us at info at as I live and grieve dot com and let us know. We hope you will find a moment to leave a review, send an email and share with others. Join us next time as we continue to live and grieve together.