Today we are so thankful for Sascha's little sister Stefanie who has kindly recorded this special Christmas message.

Her older brother Sascha died aged 18 in 2004 from Glioblastoma which is an aggressive cancer in the brain.

Stefanie shares how they honour and include Sascha at Christmas and have formed ways of doing this as a family every year.

We love the candle lighting idea and having a candle burning into the new year as a symbol of Stefanie taking Sascha into the next year with her.

Coping with a new year without your loved one is often very challenging and a particularly complex time in grief.

Sibling grief is complicated as not only does it change the dynamics of your family. You may now be the only living child yet this was never meant to be. Often siblings have special close relationships they can be best friends, confidents and protectors and the loss of them is felt in so many ways.

The focus after a child dies is often on the parents as this is against the natural order of life. For a sibling they are grieving the loss of their sibling and on top the loss of the son/daughter relationship they had before as their parents are struggling with their own grief. This can have further impact the family connection with living siblings as each of their relationships with their parents and siblings are uniquely individual to them.

This is a truly beautiful message from Stefanie which clearly shows the growing love and bond she has with her big brother Sascha.

Thank you Stefanie x

This podcast short is dedicated to Sascha ❤️

#glioblastomaawareness

#siblingloss

#siblinggrief

#survivingchristmas

#saytheirnames