Our story

I am Andie, the owner and creator of Grief Girlfriend. For over a decade, as the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Fairy Godmother Project, I dedicated my time to understanding the impact of pediatric cancer diagnoses on families, particularly caregivers. Through observation, surveys, and conversations, I realized that grief goes beyond loss associated with death, prompting me to delve deeper into grief support. I read books, attended seminars, asked questions, and opened myself more to learning from others. I began to better understand that most hard things are grief and people want to be seen and heard, not fixed. I asked the caregivers, who became my friends, what people could do better and geared FGP’s training and interactions around their suggestions and experiences. This information and knowledge carried over into my personal life and I became the girlfriend everyone came to when they wanted to say the right thing or send a gift to a griever in their life. Hence, the name Grief Girlfriend.

And then, in December 2022, as I was leaving the role of Executive Director of FGP, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. No longer the helper, I was now the one needing help. After years of reminding people that accepting help from someone was a gift to the helper, I had to remind myself. It was an uncomfortable & humbling place to be. Essentially, I experienced what had been shared with me for years: many people say the wrong thing because they really don’t know how to support someone facing grief.

Grief Girlfriend is my answer to the need for a better understanding of grief and how to intentionally support grievers while helping people get comfortable being ‘in the and’.

Thank you for being here.