I Didn’t Get to Say Good-bye

Jillian Kelly Wavering, MSSW, LCSW, RPT-S is a child therapist and founder of Asheville Child Therapy in NC. Jillian works with children and families experiencing grief and healing from trauma. Jillian worked in NYC for a decade before opening her practice, completing service with the National Health Service Corps and as Vice President for the NY Association for Play Therapy. For more information and to contact Jillian, visit ashevillechildtherapy.com.

The book, "I Didn't Get to Say Good-bye: A story for children grieving during Coronavirus" is written for children ages 6-12. The narrative and illustrations address the thoughts, feelings, and unique process of saying good-bye for the children and families who have experienced the death of a loved one during the Coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic. Many children and families will not get to say good-bye to their loved one, or be able to have traditional ceremonies like funerals where there is a communal opportunity to grieve the loss. For this reason, the narrative offers tender ideas, informed by the authors' training in pediatric mental health, for families to engage in together.The ultimate purpose of this book is to witness children in their grief, to help them have names for the complicated feelings they are experiencing as they grieve, and to provide a ritual which gives them the opportunity to say good-bye in their own way. When our emotions go unwitnessed by ourselves and others, those emotions can end up living inside of us, and making our lives more difficult. "I Didn't Get to Say Good-bye" hopes to provide the opportunity to have those feelings witnessed and to make a space for grieving.