Using Narrative Story to Process Grief: A Writing Workshop for Caregivers

This workshop is for those who may not be ready to speak their words out loud but are willing to put them on paper. Jacquelyn will help the attendees explore the 'inciting incident' of their personal stories, what started it all, and help them to not only validate their experience but also give voice and power so they may continue to write their story, all the while remembering they are in fact, the main character. Caregivers are rarely seen in our society. We do the work that keeps hospitals, shelters, and nursing homes from overflowing. We are the backbone of society, but most never receive a thank you or are allowed to express how the experience is for them without also holding guilt for having such contradictory feelings. Throughout this workshop, Jacquelyn will openly share my personal story as a young caregiver to my grandmother and mother and how she overcame that burdensome weight by learning how to ask for help continually.

Jacquelyn became the sole caregiver for her mother (Lynn) and grandmother (Joyce) in 2016 after a faulty furnace leaked carbon monoxide into her family home, causing both to develop Alzheimer's.

In 2020 Jacquelyn began documenting her journey on Youtube and Tiktok under the handle @MomOfMyMom. She has since been praised by Teepa Snow for her devotion to implementing fun and creating joy around the task of caregiving. Their TikTok has now gone viral many times, amassing over 550K followers and receiving over 50 million views.