Declare August 30th National Grief Awareness Day

My name is Angie Cartwright.

I’ve endured a lot of loss in my life, starting with my baby sister when I was 5 years-old. In 1996, I lost my husband to a car wreck, and my mother died of a drug overdose in 2010. By then, I was paralyzed with grief.

I am now dedicated to raising awareness about bereavement and helping those experiencing grief to heal. I’m asking President Obama to make August 30th National Grief Awareness Day. Why?

By reaching out to hundred of thousands of grievers on social media for the past four years, I found that healing can only take place when grief is not shamed, rushed or tabooed. This is how I found my own healing. Unfortunately, we live in a world that sees grief differently. When we lose someone, we are told to move on and to get over our sadness, because grief is commonly perceived as something that needs to be fixed. As a result, the bereaved feel misunderstood, and they end up grieving in silence, while the topic of death becomes a stronger taboo.

And silent grief can become deadly grief. I’ve seen it too many times.

Having National Grief Awareness Day recognized by our government will be the first milestone in opening our eyes to a serious issue that has never been properly addressed. This way we’ll start seeing grief as the natural consequence of the love we have for someone we’ve lost.

Please, join me in asking President Barack Obama to declare August 30th as a day of awareness and education around grief.

Why August 30th? I picked this day because it’s my mom’s birthday.

This petition is also supported by #1MMemories, a movement where people are sharing 1 million memories of loved ones they’ve lost with the hashtag #1MMemories, via Twitter or Instagram.

All these memories will be beautifully gathered at 1MMemories.com, and then printed in a one-of-a-kind book that we will hand to President Barack Obama, along with the 1 million signatures supporting this petition.

Both your signature and you joining the #1MMemories movement will help millions of grievers.

With all my love,

Angie Cartwright, Founder of National Grief Awareness Day