Grief support that doesn’t end at the funeral
Our care for your family continues for thirteen months after a death — deliberately past the first birthday, the first holidays, and the first anniversary, which are usually harder than the first week. It is part of the hospice benefit, and it costs you nothing.
Why thirteen months
Because grief does not follow the calendar people expect. The casseroles stop after two weeks. The phone calls stop after a month. And then comes their birthday, and Thanksgiving, and the anniversary of the day — and by then most people feel they have used up their allowance of other people’s patience.
Thirteen months carries you past all of it, with someone checking in who already knows your family and does not need the story explained again.
What is available to you
- Personal check-ins from our bereavement team by phone or in person, on a rhythm that fits you — including at the dates we know will be hard.
- One-to-one grief support for spouses, adult children, and other family members, whether or not they lived with the patient.
- Support for children and grandchildren, including help finding the words to use with a six-year-old, which is a genuinely different skill.
- Referrals to grief groups and counselors here in Southern Utah when one-to-one support isn’t enough — we will help you find the right one, not just hand you a list.
- Practical help in the first weeks: what to do about paperwork, accounts, and the hundred administrative tasks that arrive at the worst possible time.
- Spiritual support from our chaplain, for any faith tradition or none.
- Memorial remembrance, so that your person is acknowledged by the people who cared for them.
You do not have to be a former hospice family to call. If you live in Washington or Iron County and you are grieving, call us and we will point you toward help — whether your loved one was ever our patient or not.
Things people are relieved to hear
There is no correct timeline
Grief is not a staircase you climb in order. Good weeks followed by a terrible Tuesday is not a relapse — it is how this works for almost everyone.
Relief is not betrayal
Feeling relief after a long illness — for them, and for yourself — is one of the most common things people confess to us, and one of the least shameful.
Caregivers grieve differently
If your days were organized around someone’s care for years, the silence afterward is its own loss. That deserves attention too.
Asking for help is not weakness
And if what you need is a professional counselor or medication, saying so out loud is the strong move, not the weak one.
If you are in crisis right now
Grief can turn into something more dangerous, and there is no shame in that either. If you are thinking about harming yourself, please reach out immediately:
- 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline — call or text 988, any time, free and confidential.
- Emergency — call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room.
And you can always call us at 435-635-1001. If we are not the right help, we will stay on the phone until we have found you someone who is.