Grief Work

I suddenly lost my father in December, two days before Christmas. On December 8 he was fine (or so I thought–he was quite the faker apparently) and by December 23 he had left this world for his final destination. He lived his life well, loved intensely and traveled the world with his second wife, Shirley. He had a great love for all things related to the Missouri Tigers.

I really can’t begin to wrap up 85 years of my father’s life in a short blog post, but he did inspire me to move forward with an idea I have had in the back of my mind but wasn’t sure could be ‘real’.

In the aftermath of his death, I turned to music, as I have so often in my life. Of course, this makes sense because I am a music therapist and I have spent a lot of my career (my favorite part) working with hospice patients and their families with music and massage therapy. I found so many songs that made me think of him. Some made me laugh and some made me cry, but I did find that I focused on songs that allowed me to grieve as well as rejoice in his deep faith in God.

In the days that followed his death I shared many of these songs with my step mother, my husband and my Facebook friends. I began to realize that not everyone has access to and knowledge of many of these songs. My unique training as a music therapist allows me to offer a perspective that others might not have.

So…I have a new venture I am launching. I want to work with people to help them with their grief with music therapy as the basis. I feel like I have a lot to offer in compassion and musical knowledge. This work can be done over Skype, zoom, hangouts or in person. As far as rates go, I will be offering an introductory package to be discussed with each client, by private treaty. I want everyone who needs this help to be able to receive it.