Talking with me about her experience of grief and loss is 3rd year biology undergraduate Isobel Cordrey. Izzy describes the shock of hearing that her closest childhood friend had died, of finding herself in a role of passing on the news to other friends, of feeling guilty when she isn’t thinking about her friend, and guilty when she is thinking about her ‘instead’ of getting on with her life. Izzy also talks about what helps and what doesn’t when you have lost someone close to you, how a deeper awareness of death helps us to appreciate life and to value our family and our friendships, and how we can be drawn together in shared understanding with others who have suffered loss.We also come to a realisation that we all need help, that most people want to be helpful, that we can help others to know how to support us, and we can learn how to receive.
Isobel Cordrey is a coordinator at Peer Support scheme WellComm. Izzy is considering setting up a group at the University for people who would like to talk about grief or other forms of loss. If this would be of interest to you, please email me, Harriet Harris, at h.harris@ed.ac.uk.