Bocchinfuso Funeral Home Inc

04/13/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1EmtBDsvYL/

04/13/2026

May 23, hope to see you out at Thorold Centre 50+ for the Spring BAZAAR!

Our Spring Bazaar is coming up fast. We need your assistance. Do you have home wares, candles, or miscellaneous items for the bazaar? Drop them off Monday thru Friday, 8:30 am to 4:00pm. If you need assistance to get it here, please call 905-227-2161.

04/13/2026

04/13/2026

You can feel who means it.

04/13/2026

One thing we don’t talk about much is compound grief.

It’s the grief that doesn’t come on its own.
It arrives in layers
and settles quietly on your heart.

There is your own loss:
the person you loved, the relationship you had.
The way your life changed the moment they left.

But there is also the loss of the future you imagined.
The plans you never realised were promises.
The moments you assumed would come later and now never will.

Compound grief is grieving for other people too.
You carry your children’s loss, even when they can’t name it yet.
You feel the weight of your parents’ grief,
your siblings’,
your partner’s.
Their pain becomes part of yours.

It is the loss of who someone was to you,
and the loss of who they would have been
to the people you love.

The grandparent your children won’t know.
The friend your partner never met.
The versions of them that would have existed in other people’s lives.

This grief feels heavy because it keeps meeting itself.
One loss touches another.
One moment opens the door to many more.

This grief shows up on birthdays that you still get to celebrate –
the birthday of a loved one still here
that echoes with the absence of a loved one lost.
It shows itself in the moments where someone forgets
or doesn’t quite understand
that another person isn’t coming back.

It whispers loudly at the times you hold someone tight –
your heart breaking as you try to hold theirs together.

And yet, as heavy as they are, these layers of grief don’t need removing as such.
They need to be shared and named and lightened a little
by the joy that memory can bring.

Because this kind of grief means you love deeply,
and loving deeply means creating layers of loss.
It means your heart is holding more than just one goodbye.

It means that love is continuing. Deeply.
Not just in one place,
but everywhere.

*****

Becky Hemsley 2026
Artwork by Jarmo Korhonen

This is not in any current collections, but similar poems can be found in my grief and loss collections (all details on my website - link in comments)

04/10/2026

Some people know how to show up for the moment, but not for the aftermath.

They come around when the loss is fresh, when the pain is visible, when the sympathy is expected, and when everyone still understands that something terrible has happened. They send flowers, attend the service, say they are here if you need anything, and for a little while, it feels like maybe you will not have to carry this pain so alone.

But then life moves on for them.

The calls get fewer. The check-ins stop. The space around you gets quieter and quieter, while your grief is still as loud as ever. And that is a different kind of heartbreak, realizing that while your world is still shattered, other people have returned to theirs as if your pain had an expiration date. As if the funeral was the ending, when for you, it was only the beginning of learning how to live with what can never be fixed.

That part hurts deeply because you are not only grieving the person you lost. You are also grieving the support you thought would stay. You are grieving the comfort you needed but did not receive. You are grieving the painful truth that some people were only built to stand near your sorrow, not remain with you inside it.

If this has happened to you, please know you are not too much. Your grief did not become too inconvenient. Your pain did not become less worthy of love just because time passed. Some people simply do not know how to stay present when grief becomes a long road instead of a single moment.

Have you ever felt abandoned in your grief after everyone else went back to normal? 🤍

04/10/2026

(And gone can mean a lot of things . . . ). These internet holidays like “sibling day” sure can creep up and bring all the feelings when you least expect it. Thinking of anyone grieving a sibling today. 💔

04/10/2026

Nominations are now open for the Accessibility Matters Here Award across Niagara 🦽

Led by the Joint Accessibility Advisory Committee (JAAC) and the St. Catharines Accessibility Advisory Committee, this initiative recognizes businesses that are taking meaningful steps to create more inclusive, accessible spaces for everyone.

From customer service to physical environments, these efforts shape how people experience our communities.

Nominate a business today – click below access the nomination form. Let’s recognize the Thorold businesses leading by example.
https://bit.ly/4tJHP34

An initiative of the Joint Accessibility Advisory Committee and the St. Catharines Accessibility Advisory Committee, the award celebrates efforts across Niagara, including Lincoln, West Lincoln, Pelham, Thorold, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Grimsby, Port Colborne, and St. Catharines.

04/10/2026

I would love to hear your answers!

04/10/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/14YuyFK5owD/

04/09/2026

The hardest nights don't happen in public. And most people aren't around for them.