"Grief Walks" at Coot Lake support bereaved

"About six months before I joined hospice, I had a grandmother who passed away," Lillian Osborne-Durst said. "She was diagnosed with dementia...towards the last few months of her life, there were multiple hospitalizations... At the last hospitalization, somebody mentioned hospice... I'll never forget the nurse, I'll never forget the day."

Grieving comes in many shapes and forms. The process has plenty of ups and downs, with some days feeling wonderful, and others feeling abysmal. For many, the process of grieving begins in hospice, and one Boulder County hospice aims to help clients with their grieving through monthly "grief walks."

"Trailwinds [Hospice] was founded in 2017," noted current CEO Lilliann Osborne-Durst. The founders, Cara Leisher, Jane Peterson (both registered nurses), and Ginger Brooks (a spiritual counselor), had "all been in the hospice industry for quite some time," she said."They worked together at two different hospices. Both were sold and purchased by either corporate-backed or private equity-backed hospices."

Osborne-Durst has been in the hospice industry for 14 years. Her journey into the important field of hospice work and processes like these was sparked by the loss of a loved one and the power of a nurse.

"I asked if [the nurse] thought [my grandmother] was going to get better," Osborne-Durst said. "She said, 'Look at her feet. Do you see this color?' And, she taught me the signs and symptoms of dying, and gave me the ability to have this presence with my grandmother that I wouldn't have otherwise, and it also allowed me to start that grieving process."

Trailwinds was founded with proper hospice care, like this, in mind, focusing on customer care. "[The founders] decided to start their own hospice to just ensure that they could provide the highest quality of care and prevent and not have to worry about a corporate buyout," added Osborne-Durst.

This high quality of care has been one of the reasons Trailwinds created special programs for patients and their loved ones that aren't offered in many other places. Hospice work certainly includes bereavement. But Trailwinds Hospice offers more than just simple bereavement services.

According to Osborne-Durst, Trailwinds has a dedicated bereavement department, specializing in providing services for grieving clients. The monthly walks at Coot Lake were born out of the department by Ann Bray, the "previous bereavement counselor [who] recently retired," said Osborne-Durst.

"[The] vision was to provide a way for people to come together," she said. "Oftentimes there's a healing property in walking, so they started doing this once a month, April through October, at Coot Lake and Boulder and it's just grown since."

Walks are open to anyone who has experienced the loss of a loved one, regardless of whether the loved one was in hospice with Trailwinds. All walks are free of charge and trained bereavement staff accompany participants on all walks. Walks are scheduled on the last Saturday of every month, April through October, at 9:30 a.m. until 10:30 a.m.

Coot Lake was specifically chosen for the event due to its landscape and trails, which allowed people of all ages and physical dispositions to embark on the walk.

Trailwinds reports that grief walks have proven to be beneficial in helping with the bereavement process. With emotional levels running high while grieving, a walk can help calm the mind and allow processing to occur in a low-stress environment, ultimately helping participants through a very difficult part of life. A group setting can also offer the necessary support needed, as others can offer companionship that can help alleviate feelings of loneliness or isolation.

Grieving is a difficult and long process, for certain. The grief walks provided by Trailwinds are just one way community members can experience connection and calm while mourning. For more information, call Trailwinds at 303-442-5683 or email [email protected].