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Topics of death and grief can be hard to broach, but the founders of a Nova Scotia library hope to help people navigate difficult emotions surrounding loss through books.
When the Valley Hospice Foundation’s Grief Library launched last year in Coldbook, N.S., Janet Balsom was its first client.At the time, the mother of two young kids had just been diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer at the age of 45.“It’s a little surreal, but that’s how cancer works,” she said.She had just started a new job as a school counsellor when her symptoms first appeared, including chronic fatigue.“I was dragging through the day all that fall. I thought maybe, because I’m in my 40s, it’s a new job, I’ve got two kids, perimenopause, depression — those kind of things. But we did bloodwork and discovered that I was very anemic,” she said. After more tests, she was told she had an incurable cancer.
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“At first we were hopeful for a cure — at this point that’s not what’s going to happen. Now it’s just about enjoying the last months and setting everybody up for going into the after-times as well as they can,” she said.To help navigate the uncertainty and grief around her diagnosis, she sought support from the new library, which offers literature on difficult subjects.The library recently received the top prize in the 2024 Innovation Challenge hosted by the Canadian Virtual Hospice at the McGill International Palliative Care Congress.“When we started the library, we really focused on the loss of a person, quickly realizing there are so many other nuances to grief — loss of a pet, critical illness, a terminal diagnosis,” said Terri Milton, a librarian with the project.
The library, which expects to have 350 books in its collection this year, will mail books to patrons to make it easier to access material. The books are targeted to all ages, and Balsom says it has also helped her children during this difficult time.“We have been open with them. It’s very difficult. Hard for them to hold uncertainty,” she said.“They’re still so young. Things need to be concrete. Are you dying this week? Are you dying in six months? We’ve had to answer those questions with, ‘I don’t know’ and ‘I’m so sorry.’”Those would like to borrow books from the Grief Library can get in touch by calling 902-690-2194, emailing [email protected] or visiting the location at 11 Opportunity Lane in Coldbrook, N.S. on Mondays and Wednesdays between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.
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