(bright uptempo music) - Caring Connections hosts its annual event supporting those grieving during the holidays.

Laura Bradbury joins us to share this year's theme, navigating the seasons of change and how the evening offers comfort and more strategies for coping with loss.

Hi, Laura.

Thanks for being here again.

It's such an important program you have at the College of Nursing.

- Thanks.

It's so good to see you again.

So good to be here and yeah, really grateful to be able to talk about this program.

- Yeah.

And tell me, navigating the seasons of change, you always have a keynote, this year's keynote.

- Yeah, we're really excited this year.

We're gonna hear from Nicea DeGering who's one of the hosts of "Good Things Utah."

And we actually have a pretty longstanding relationship with her and with the folks there, but we're excited for her to be our keynote this year.

She's experienced some personal losses herself, and I think we'll talk about the experience of like, navigating those losses while simultaneously being kind of in the public eye and also talk about just like, sort of broadly, the seasons of change.

Like, not just death-related losses, but the experience of loss we might go through when we're, you know, entering a new phase of life, entering like, empty nesting or, you know, those kind of things.

And so we're real excited to hear all that she has to say.

- Alright.

And I know you have a pianist this year as well.

- Yeah.

Oh, the ever delightful Missy Lynn.

If you've ever been to Keys on Main, you've heard her play there.

She also has like, a YouTube channel and has produced some albums.

She's really remarkable and was also just really delighted to come.

- And then just briefly, why is it so challenging when you're dealing with grief already and then the holidays come along?

- Goodness gracious.

So, I mean, there's no, like, one easy why.

But when we think about the holiday season, so much of the focus is togetherness.

And, you know, we wanna bring people together, we wanna bring family together, friends together.

But when we've had a loss, that togetherness can also just remind us that somebody is absent and that can make the holidays extra difficult.

It can drive that sense of loss home.

- Well, thanks for what you're doing for people who have experienced that, and thanks for being here.

- Yeah, glad to be here.

- And if you'd like to know more about Caring Connections' program, Grief and the Holidays, it's November 11th at seven o'clock at the University of Utah College of Nursing.

Go to nursing.utah.edu/caring-connect.

I'm Mary Dickson.

Thanks for watching "Contact."

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Hi, I'm Mary Dickson.

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