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Option B | Navigating Grief & Hardship

@optionb

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We’re here to help you navigate loss & adversity and support your loved ones through life’s hardest moments via:
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Recently, I’ve spoken with so many people who long to find love again but worry about how their adult children will feel. Those conversations have stayed with me – and inspired me to write an open letter and talk about the importance of finding love again with @andersoncooper on his incredible podcast, @allthereis.

I hope these words reach anyone who needs them and help families begin a difficult, honest conversation about love after loss. We can honor the people we’ve lost while supporting the people still beside us.

You can read the full letter and listen to the podcast at the links in my bio. by @optionb

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3 days ago

@sherylsandberg talks with @andersoncooper about the connection she found between grief and joy after the death of her husband, Dave Goldberg, in 2015, and why she believes choosing to “let yourself feel some joy” can be a way of honoring a loved one. Watch the full conversation at cnn.com/allthereis #grief #allthereis by @optionb

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8 days ago

@sherylsandberg married her husband Tom Bernthal seven years after her husband Dave Goldberg died in 2015. She talks with @andersoncooper about an open letter she’s written to adult children who have lost a parent, encouraging them to “give permission” to their surviving parent to find love again. Watch the full conversation at cnn.com/allthereis #grief #allthereis by @optionb

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8 days ago

Talking about grief can sometimes help us feel a little less alone. ♥️

@sherylsandberg joins @andersoncooper, @allthereis, for a personal conversation about grief and life after loss. Here’s a first look at their conversation.

Look for this episode coming Thursday, October 8. by @optionb

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10 days ago

Today is 59 years from the day my beloved late husband Dave Goldberg was born.

Dave, the world is a better place for your presence and it is a worse place for your absence. by @optionb

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15 days ago

May your grief guide you. 💙

"Our emotions are a compass. They show us what we care for, when a boundary has been crossed, and what we want to change in this world.⁣⁠ It is our task, thus, to tend to them: ⁣⁠To turn towards them, feel them fully, ⁣⁠& let them show us what they will.⁣"⁠

Art & poem by @nasimehbe by @optionb

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17 days ago

If you’ve been carrying grief, pain, or more than you can hold, take a moment to check in: how does your sadness feel today?⁠
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Art by @worry__lines by @optionb

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24 days ago

My mom loved a bargain;
She never wanted to pay full price.
She was a member of every discount club
for any store that offered one.

And to try and stay connected to her,
when I go into one of these stores
I use her phone number to get her discount.

This morning I went into CVS.
I needed cleaning supplies for my studio,
and when I went to check out, as usual,
I punched in my mother’s phone number
to get her CVS rewards discount.

Except today, after I completed my transaction,
it said “Thank you, Catherine”
and then showed an unfamiliar email.

I realized that not only had my mom’s phone number
been assigned to somebody else,
but that somebody else, Catherine,
had signed up for CVS rewards
and replaced my mother.

Tears spilled out right there at the checkout,
surrounded by magazines and candy bars.
as the queue grew longer behind me.

I understand the reality
of redistributing phone numbers,
and I know it’s been five years since she’s gone.
But standing there with my receipt in hand,
it hurt.

🎨 Art and words above by @aolanow.

In the comments, we want to hear from you: what small, unexpected things have reminded you of your person lately? by @optionb

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a month ago

Twenty-two years ago, Dave and I stood at the Cape of Good Hope on our honeymoon. The photo we took there became my favorite; the name on the sign seemed to hold the promise of our future together. After I lost Dave, I looked at this photo more than any other - sometimes it made me smile and sometimes it broke my heart all over again.

This month I went back. Same rocks, same waves, but with my family — and with @tom_bernthal beside me. I sat there at first on my own, and I talked to Dave the way I still do sometimes. And then Tom sat down next to me, wiped my tears, and held my hand - and I let both things be true at once: grief for the love I lost, and gratitude for the love I have found.

One of the truest things I’ve learned is that you can still love someone who is gone deeply and truly. And at the same time, you can make room for someone new to stand beside you. Grief and love aren’t opposites competing for space. They can sit on the same rocks, looking at the same waves, at the same time.

I am endlessly grateful to Dave — for the life we shared, the beautiful children he gave me, the hope that we had time to experience. And I am endlessly grateful to Tom — for being generous enough to let Dave continue to be part of our story instead of asking me to leave him behind. Our love doesn’t erase the old; it just proves that there’s more room in a heart than we think. taken in Cape of Good Hope by @optionb

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2 months ago

I got to know Evan LePatner after his wife, Wesley, was tragically killed in the Park Avenue shooting last summer. In the year since, I’ve watched him carry a grief no one should have to carry. Today – one year since he lost Wesley – Evan is launching the Wesley Mittman LePatner Foundation to carry her legacy forward, and I am so moved by how he has chosen to honor her memory.

The Foundation will invest in values-driven leaders who reflect who Wesley was: pursuing excellence with humility, leading with integrity, and understanding that real leadership means helping others rise alongside you.

I know that grief and purpose can live side by side — that the people we love and lose can keep shaping the world through the work we build in their memory. Evan is proof of that.

I’m honored to help share about @thewmlfoundation and support their work as they carry Wesley’s legacy forward. by @optionb

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3 months ago

You never know the silent battles someone might be fighting.⁠ In a world where struggles often go unheard, let's be the ones who listen with kindness 💙⁠
⁠
🎨 Art by @aolanow by @optionb

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3 months ago

We keep coming back to this from Jamie Anderson. 💙

Who are you still carrying love for? Tell us in the comments. by @optionb

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3 months ago