“A place where we can be ourselves”

After Sam died of cardiac arrest at the age of 41, Adriane was eager to find support for her two sons. Abe and Sol (ages 10 and 9 at the time of their father’s death nearly nine years ago) appreciated the unspoken understanding they found at Dougy Center. It was a place where they could be around other kids who had experienced a similar loss. Peer grief support groups at Dougy Center are organized by age and by the type of death their person experienced, while also recognizing that each loss is unique. Adriane reflected, “Sharing space with other kids who had endured a similar circumstance was incredibly grounding and reassuring for my boys. They did not feel like they were the only ones. They did not feel alone. It was a space where you could share and talk if you wanted or listen and process quietly. Healing can be found in all of it.”

Latest Episode

October 6th, 2026

What's It Like When There's No Tomorrow? - Ami Baio On Grief, Games, And Her Dad

From an early age, Ami Baio was curious about death and grief. As a game designer and the creator of Pink Tiger Games, she eventually turned that curiosity into Proof of Life, a conversational game about death, grief, and talking about what matters most to the people in our lives. In a professional and personal overlap, as Ami was finishing the game, her father was dying of cancer. Ami's relationship with her dad had changed dramatically over the course of her life. After her parents divorced when she was five, she and her father became separated from each other, and their relationship was complicated for many years. In 2010, Ami reached out to apologize for the distance she had created between them and to acknowledge the effort and love her father had put into their relationship. Years later, her father offered an apology of his own. When he became ill, Ami and her siblings found themselves navigating the uncertainty of his cancer diagnosis while her dad remained determined to live. Conversations about death were difficult, but Proof of Life eventually gave the family another way to talk, laugh, remember, and connect. Ami also shares what it was like to be with her dad when he died, the playlist he created for his own funeral, the waves of grief that followed, and the unexpected ways music, memories, humor, and even dancing have helped her stay connected to him. read more...