This Year in Grief, Next Year in Hope

Featuring a diverse roster of luminaries in grief, spirituality, creativity, and personal development, this gathering provides a space to reflect on what we’ve been grieving this year – personally and/or collectively – and to name what we’re yearning and dreaming about for 2026. The 90-minute program consists of music, the building of an altar, candle lighting and extinguishing rituals, and a moment to invite the public to acknowledge losses. That includes individuals who have died, places and environments ravaged by war and the climate crisis, and the erosion of institutions and belief systems that we hold dear. We will also hold space for the flickers of hope and renewal in 2026. Special guests include storyteller and author Daria Burke; author, bereaved parent, and cancer survivor Kelly Cervantes; family caregiver and advocate Jessica C. Guthrie; writer, artist, and educator Jennifer Pastiloff, Mangda Sengvanhpheng, an artist, contemplative care practitioner, and death doula; and poet, educator, and bereaved parent Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer.