Live & Grieve™ — Our Story
Live & Grieve™ was not born in a classroom or drafted on a whiteboard. It was born in the deepest pain a family can experience — the loss of a child.
When Jamie’s son Jacoby died, the ground beneath us collapsed. There were no words that could make sense of it. Life kept moving forward, but our hearts could not. We discovered that grief is not a single moment but a lifelong companion. It doesn’t vanish; it changes form. It shows up in the silence, in the empty chair, in the milestones never reached.
As a family, we tried to navigate what no one prepares you for. We discovered quickly how isolating grief can be. People mean well, but over time the world often grows quiet. Friends return to their routines, workplaces expect focus, and the outward rhythms of life move on while the ache inside remains. That gap between what others see and what you feel can leave many carrying grief unseen and unheard.
Later, when our nephew Ian — Tanya’s son — also died, we were struck again by the shattering weight of loss. The pain was not new, but it was no less devastating. Once again, our family found ourselves in the long night of grief, clinging to one another, searching for something solid to hold on to.
It was in those years of brokenness that the seed of Live & Grieve™ began to grow.
We recognized something crucial: grief needed space. It needed language. It needed room to be shared in a way that was real, safe, and steady. Too often, grief is treated like an illness to recover from or a hurdle to move beyond. But grief is love, reshaped by loss. It deserves the same dignity and patience we give to life’s most important experiences.
Out of that conviction came a workbook — simple at first, just words on pages to help guide conversations we wished someone had led for us. But as it spread, the need became clear. Others were longing for the same thing: structured spaces where grief could be honored without being rushed, where people could live with grief and still be reminded that life, though different, is not over.
From one workbook grew a series of resources: four participant volumes, four facilitator guides, manuals, and a full training program. And from those resources grew groups — safe, consistent circles where people gather to carry grief together.
Live & Grieve™ is not a theory. It is a movement born from lived experience. It carries the fingerprints of Jacoby and Ian, whose absence became the soil where compassion and purpose took root. It reflects the journey of Wayne and Jamie, who continue to walk through the unbearable loss of a son. It carries the strength of Tanya, who as a mother herself knows the unspeakable pain of burying a child. It carries the heartbeat of our family, who decided that if we had to live with grief, we would not let others live with it alone.
Today, Live & Grieve™ stands as both a program and a promise:
- That grief will not be minimized.
- That loss will not be rushed.
- That people will not be left to walk in silence.
We created Live & Grieve™ to hold space for grief with honesty, compassion, and steadiness. And we remain committed to that vision: to build a growing community where no one has to grieve in isolation, and where love continues to be honored through the way we carry our losses together.
Team
Wayne & Jamie Simms (co-founders), partners and allies.
Disclaimer: Resources are supplemental; for crisis, call or text 988 (U.S.) or visit findahelpline.com.