Meet the Lucas Family

Brigitte Lucas began bringing her daughter, Braelynn, to Dougy Center’s “Littles” group twice a month after her husband, Ethan, died of COVID just a few days before Christmas in 2021. Dougy Center is one of the few places where Brigitte, Braelynn, and Blaykley can talk about Ethan and feel safe to express whatever they need. Like other young children who are grieving, Braelynn struggled after Ethan’s death as she tried to understand what happened. She was tearful sometimes, mad sometimes, and sometimes regressed to earlier developmental stages. Brigitte was amazed when these behaviors began to ease not long after they started a Dougy Center group.

Latest Episode

March 15th, 2024

It's A Loss That's Hard To Talk About - Grieving A Friend

Whenever Annette & Mel connect, there's always a third person in the mix. That third person is Amy, their friend and chosen family member who died in 2012 of pulmonary fibrosis. While they each had a unique friendship with her, both connections were formative and deep. When Amy died, Annette and Mel's friendship grew stronger, because of their shared grief. This episode is part of a series focused on grieving the death of a friend. As much as we decry there being a hierarchy of grief, most people still assume the death of a family member is harder than the death of a friend. In reality though, the death of a friend or chosen family member can be absolutely devastating, in ways that catch us, and others, off guard. read more...