This week we introduce April M. Arevalo, a writer and educational researcher based out of Portland, Oregon and Austin, Texas. She joined Buzzy’s Bees last winter as a writer for Give Grief a Voice, excited to help create another memory for families who have lost a child.
“I did not know then that I would also create new memories for myself; I do not look at sunflowers or narwhals the same and I hear familiar songs differently because of those families’ stories. Writing and reading all the stories and now getting to see the art pieces they have inspired is one of the highlights of my writing career so far. It has been difficult to write about this subject, but it has made me a better writer and a better interviewer, and overall a better friend. It has been incredible to join in a year when so many of us are facing grief. I have learned so much about how to acknowledge and comfort friends and family who have experienced loss.”
In her interview for our Give Grief a Voice Art Exhibit and Auction April also shared, when asked what she hopes the families gain from the stories she writes, “I hope they gain a new memory about their child because I think so often we think that we stop having new experiences with our family who have passed and this is something else they get to have as part of the memory of their child.”
You can learn more about April’s experience in her interview that will be part of our live virtual event on Saturday, Nov. 7, 5:30-6:30 PM.
Bidding on the art has begun! We hope you can join us as we raise the resources needed to offer memory-making for families in the year to come.
