For the Mothers, the Mothered, and the Missing: A Grief Ritual

Join us in tending the grief that Mother’s Day amplifies. We aren’t supposed to do this alone and there is a unique medicine available to us when we choose to gather, to share authentically, and to witness each other. 

Together, we  make space for the many ways grief lives within Mother’s Day:

• Grieving a mother who is aging  

• Grieving a mother who has died

• Longing to be mothered differently

• Navigating estrangement or complicated relationships

• Grieving the choice not to become a mother

• Grieving a child, a pregnancy, or the path to parenthood

• Holding the invisible weight of mothering while grieving

  
  

In our two hours together, we will create space to:

• Honor the losses — seen and unseen, recent and long ago, especially those that feel more present on days like this

• Grieve the expectations — the futures imagined, the milestones unmet, the quiet, daily ache that Mother’s Day can illuminate

• Acknowledge those who made us parents — the ones we don’t get to parent, and who continue to shape us, even — and especially — in their absence

• Tend to what Mother’s Day brings — the complexity, the tenderness, the dissonance of being a parent in grief on a day that centers what is missing

• Let grief move — through ritual, breath, silence, and shared presence

  
  

You are welcome here. 

All of you. 

All of the complexity of it, the confusion of it, the chaos of it.

Come as you are. 

Please consider bringing some items for the collective altar that are connected to your grief or your longing (photos, flowers, an object of significance to you, etc). 

We invite you to extend your time with a restorative soak at Everett House before or after our ritual — a chance to soften, float, and let the water hold you.

Facilitator: Alyssa Ackerman | B.A., LMT, Grief & Trauma Counselor, Death Doula, and Ritual Facilitator

Location of Group/Ritual: Flanders House (adjacent to Everett House)

2926 NE Flanders St, Portland, OR 97232

When: Thursday, May 7th, 6pm to 8pm

Cost: $25-35*

Optional Soak at Everett House: $5 off for event attendees. Spa reservations are separate from this event and can be made in advance via their website: https://www.everetthousecommunityhealingcenter.com/

*Please email katherine@groundedgrief.com if cost is barrier