Establishing Identity After Losing a Parent as a Child | Ella Baragwanath | TEDxCambridgeUniversity

Описание: For a bereaved child, grief is forever the unwelcome guest we ignore yet usher into our lives. We hate what it snatched from us, but we clutch what it gifted us with equal ferocity. And we’re constantly knee-deep in that guilty question, “How can the worst thing that ever happened to me also be the best thing about me?” The loss of my mother was a sieve, straining so many of the coarser pieces of myself from the finer ones. Although the absence aches and aches and is carried for your whole life (any now bereaved adult who once was can tell you that), it also offers a little parcel of magic. Once out of the thick fog of immediate grief, as you learn and grow into adulthood, in a funny kind of way, you are awarded a second childhood. I’m Ella, currently in my second year studying English at Newnham College, Cambridge. After a seven year battle with Motor Neurone Disease, my mother died when I was twelve. Her death has instilled a passion to break down the taboo surrounding grief and childhood bereavement. I am proud to work with charities supporting young people who have experienced loss, especially focusing on building communities and fondly remembering missing loved ones. I’m originally from Norfolk and enjoy spending time on the coast with my dad and little brothers, alongside reading and writing in my spare time. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx