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The holiday season is approaching, and with it comes a moment to focus on joy and connection. For many, it's one of the only opportunities during the year to take a break from work, spend time with extended family, and connect over food and tradition . But that's not always the case for people navigating grief.

"It's supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year, [but it] was also the worst time of my life," Hollie, a 29-year-old living in Florida, tells PS. In December 2013, Hollie's father passed away suddenly, and the holidays have been complicated since. "It's one thing to miss a loved one during the holidays, but it's also the same time of year that my father passed, so I've been progressively healing each year.



" Though some think grief gets easier with time, Hollie says the grief actually just changes. " Navigating grief gets more distant as it gets fuller. As I get older, I think of the new traditions I would make with my father," she says.

"We never had a chance to cheers together, or smoke a cigar or gamble in Atlantic City and whatever else Canadians like to do for the holidays with their grown children. I had a complex relationship with my dad, and his death was sudden, so this time of year brings up more questions and more wondering rather than reminiscences of our time together." Like Hollie, 28-year-old Katelyn also lost a loved one during the holidays.

Katelyn's grandfather — a no-nonsense man from the West Virginia coalfields — passed away from illnes.

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