Moving Forward Together: How Grief Counseling Changed Nancy and Don’s Lives

In January 2024, Nancy and Don each returned home to a house that felt suddenly unfamiliar. 

Don had just lost his wife, Kathy, after 26 years of marriage. Days later, Nancy lost her husband, Harry, after more than 36 years together. At the time, they did not know each other. They were simply two people learning how to live in the quiet that follows goodbye. 

Both found their way to a Hosparus Health grief counseling group in New Albany. 

Neither knew exactly what they were looking for. They only knew they could not do it alone.  What unfolded next surprised them both. 

 

A Room Where Grief Was Understood

The first session was small. One man. Several women. Every person had lost a spouse. 

The stories were heavy. The room was still. But it felt safe. 

“I realized quickly that I wasn’t the only one struggling,” Nancy shared. “Everyone’s grief was different, but we were all feeling it.” 

Led by a Hosparus Health grief counselor, the group created space for honesty. There were discussion prompts and reflection exercises. Tissues were passed without explanation. There was relief in sitting beside people who understood the ache without needing it defined. 

For Don, the experience brought an unexpected realization. 

“I thought I could handle things on my own,” he said. “I had managed our household for years. I assumed I would just keep going.” 

But beneath that confidence was something quieter. 

“I didn’t know what I expected to get out of the group. I just knew there might be something I needed to learn.” 

In the sessions, he began to name emotions he had long kept contained. Sadness for what Kathy endured. Anger at the limits of what he could do. Questions he had never allowed himself to explore. 

“It helped to hear others speak openly,” he said. “The sharing was honest. It was human.” 

 

From Shared Grief to Friendship

As the weeks passed, patterns formed. The same seats. The same faces. Nancy handing Don tissues when they were needed. Conversations lingering after meetings ended. When Nancy mentioned how difficult it was to cook for one, Don offered a practical solution. Lunches followed. One would pay this month, the other the next. Stories deepened. Trust took root. 

They attended additional sessions in Louisville. They navigated the holidays together. They began doing ordinary things again, concerts, community events, long conversations afterward. 

“We weren’t trying to replace what we lost,” Nancy said. “We were learning how to live alongside it.” Understanding came first. Everything else grew from there. 

 

Choosing to Move Forward

Through counseling, Nancy and Don were introduced to a powerful distinction: moving on versus moving forward. 

Moving on means leaving the past behind. 

Moving forward means carrying it with you. 

They chose to move forward. 

They read together. They talked deeply about their spouses, their regrets, their hopes. They shared things they had never shared before. Slowly, the friendship that began in a circle of folding chairs became something more. 

In October 2025, Nancy and Don were married. 

Their officiant was a Hosparus Health chaplain who had walked alongside Nancy after Harry’s death. It felt like a bridge between chapters, honoring the love that shaped them and the new life they were building together. Looking back, Don reflects on the decision to attend that first group session. 

“I took a chance on what I might get out of it,” he said. “I got the support of a lifetime.” 

 

Why Grief Care Matters

Grief does not follow a calendar. It does not disappear when the funeral ends. For many, the hardest moments arrive weeks or months later, when the world expects life to feel steady again.

Hosparus Health offers grief counseling and resources long after loss, creating a place where people can speak honestly, be heard, and begin again. These

 services are available at no cost to families because of generous donors, regardless of whether their loved one received hospice care. 

Because of that generosity, Nancy and Don found companionship, renewal and a way forward. 

 

Help Someone Take Their First Step

When someone walks into a grief group for the first time, they do not know what they will find.  Your gift helps make sure they find a chair, a listening ear, and a room where they do not have to carry loss alone. 

Make a gift today and help create space for healing and connection.