Nearly 400 people turned out to the TransCanada Theatre Oct. 3 for a discussion on grief and loss, organized by the Olds & District Hospice Society.
The talk, held from 7 to 9 p.m., was given by local pyschologist Jody Carrington.
"We are wired to do hard things, and we are wired to do hard things that sometimes involve grief and mourning and loss. Those are the great equalizers, "Carrington said in an interview with the Albertan.
"We are so much better equipped to do hard things when we remember that we are wired for connection."
Carrington said her main advice for those suffering grief and loss is to "lean into the hard stuff."
"The first instinct is to shut down and to armour up when we get scared or sad," she said.
"And what needs to happen -- the quickest way we can heal through hard things -- is to lean into it; to talk to people, to talk about it, talk about the people you love and are missing. That gets us through the hard stuff the quickest, but it's usually the thing we don't want to do the most."
Olds & District Hospice Society bereavement facilitator Kathy Kemmere was pleased with the way the evening went.
Olds residents have been hit with some significant losses over the past several months.
That includes the passing of hockey and lacrosse player Ryan McBeath and the severe injury suffered by local hockey and lacrosse player Graysen Cameron as a result of the April 6 crash involving a team bus and semi trailer in Saskatchewan. That crash sparked grief locally and nationwide.
"It's important for people to understand what grief is and how to deal with it," Kemmere said.
"We need as a community to learn a little bit more about what grief is and how it affects us and how to get through and to support each other.
"It confirmed my own feelings that in our community, people wander around not knowing what to do in grief," Kemmere added. "People are searching. They're searching for what is normal. They're searching about how do we get through this.
"Whenever there is something we feel the community would benefit from, that's what we try to offer as a society. That's what our mandate is -- to support our community."
