Pictured, from left, are Kastiny Newman, April Deese and Brickelle Newman, who took part in Lakeside Hospice’s Good Grief program, which offers support for children who have experienced a loss in their life and want to gain helpful tools for coping.

No matter how much time someone has to prepare for a loved one’s death, grieving can be a difficult process. The Good Grief Program at Lakeside Hospice in Pell City works to teach children and adults how to mourn a loved one in a healthy manner.

Susie McClanahan is the children’s leader at Good Grief, which started five years ago to help children of hospice’s patients. However, workers and volunteers saw there were needs beyond the walls of Lakeside Hospice. They decided to offer the program free of charge to anyone in the community who suffered a loss and needed help in the grieving process.

“Kids realize it’s a safe place because someone else has been where they are,” McClanahan said. “They’re not alone.”

On Tuesday, children and adults met as a part of the five-week course to enjoy pizza and share their thoughts and feelings. After writing a message on a paper heart, the group tied them to balloons.

Kastiny Newman, a child in the program, pointed to the purple balloons and yelled, “I want this one,” while running around and smiling with the other children. The group then set the balloons lose outside, as if saying goodbye to their loved one.

“It’s a release for them,” McClanahan said.

She said children learn that their feelings are normal and that others have the same types of responses to death.

“Most of the world doesn’t know what to do with (grief),” said McClanahan, who lost her nephew a year ago. “If they’re not allowed to grieve, they re-grieve at different levels and milestones in their lives.”

The group also gives the children stuffed animals, brings therapy animals to the meetings, allows them to express anger and decorate shoe boxes to remember their loved one.

There are about four volunteers who help with the program. Although they encourage participation, participants are not required to talk during group time.

“Good Grief is good in that you can work through your grief,” McClanahan said, “And the kids have a lot of fun.”