Steve & Karen Nicola
Your reliable grief educators and gentle grief coaches
Giving you permission to talk about grief.
Travel from suffering to wholeness with the proper support and resources. Grief is an emotion we aren’t taught much about. When we start to experience this all-encompassing loss, the pain can feel tangible. We’re here to help teach you not only how to communicate this sorrow with others, but with yourself as well.
Who We Are
We are full-time grief educators and grief coaches who love our work supporting both grievers and comforters. To watch others heal from within as a griever or gain confidence as they become skilled comforters is a privilege.
When Steve and I were young parents of two beautiful children, our son, Dawson lost his encounter with Leukemia. He was only 3 and we were 28. The unthinkable, unspeakable, unimaginable really happened to us! Since that time, many seasons of good living, ongoing healing, love, and happiness have filled our lives. But it was not that way at the beginning of our grief and loss story.
My husband, Steve, once penned this at one of Dawson’s death anniversaries:
"I thought, this is hell, separation from the one who meant so much to me. Physical pain at that moment would have been, at some level, redundant and unnecessary." - March 1, 2019
We discovered that grieving well means being intentional, working hard to interact with our pain in productive ways, and learning to accept that wrestling with our faith were our best grieving options. By far, grieving the death of our son was one of the most challenging seasons of our lives.
Our Story
In the early days of our grief, we encountered others who didn’t have a clue what to say or do. That was hard. After catching my sorrowful eyes one day at church, a woman turned and walked in the opposite direction. She just didn’t know how to interact with my broken heart.
We soon became aware that we had no prior training or modeling for this life experience. Steve and I each found our own way through the darkness. We know that our God was with us in it all. But that didn’t take the sorrow of grief away! He didn’t take offense at our anger, despair, loneliness, and longing. And so our relationship with God supported us as He faithfully brought more healing into our crushed hearts with each season of grief. While we had a hope of someday in the future with our son, we still needed to cry about the sad parts of our story. Putting that sadness on paper was one of our best healing choices.
We will never forget our precious Dawson, but have our hearts healed so we can have space to love again? YES!
We actively support all types of loss and grief. Some of them include fire loss, divorce, other relationship losses, job loss, pet loss, and death.
Your journey to healing starts here.
Ways You Can Start Healing
The Book:
Comfort for the Day, Living through the Seasons of Grief.
I discovered two heart-healing principles that helped me with my grief. I eventually wrote the book, Comfort for the Day, Living through the Seasons of Grief., which Steve joined years later to co-author. The book is geared towards helping grievers to heal their broken hearts.
We wrote the book, but it becomes your story. Find out how.
Supportive Blogs
Since so many didn’t know how to interact with us in our pain, we created educational resources to help both Grievers and Comforters. Explore our online blogs below to learn from the comfort of your home and kick-start the journey to healing.
Educational Trainings
We offer virtual and in-person trainings and workshops for groups looking to grieve and heal together. As previous classroom educators, we understand the benefit of working in groups and larger communities.
Cards that Comfort
As a Comforter, your words have power, and it’s often what a Griever is looking for the most. Our Cards that Comfort are beautifully written and designed to give your friend the words that they’ve been wanting to hear. We leave extra room for you to personalize the message as well.
Online Course
Grief. You Have Options is an online video support series that allows Grievers to take their time and rewatch as often as needed as they progress through the seasons of grief. Our virtual course gives additional support with downloads to really engage with your grief in a healing way.
Our Mission
To be a healing resource for those who grieve and thoughtful direction for those who comfort them.
Our Vision
Wisely educating to relieve the grieving heart.
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