Kathryn Holl was teaching school in New York when her father became ill with a brain hemorrhage. “For six weeks the surgeon kept wanting to do more,” she recalls. “Then they released Dad into hospice care and it was all about love.”
As a result, Kathryn wanted to learn about death and dying—and ultimately completed a degree as a licensed professional counselor in holistic studies through Western Michigan University. Today, she is the Grief Support Services Manager for Hospice of Michigan.
“I do bereavement follow-up with families,” she says. “I’m so honored that they let me in at such a vulnerable time. Grief is transformational. Anyone who has gone through loss has an empathy they didn’t have before.”
She has created a program called Memories on the Manitou. “I worked with Traverse Tall Ships to create a memorial service on the bay. Participants tell me, ‘This makes me realize I’m not alone, that this is normal.’”
“It is difficult,” Kathryn admits, “carrying the sadness. But I can do this because I know they will move through it and I can accompany them. When you take food to a bereaved person, take it on a glass plate—so you have to go back.”