Simple books for complicated topics.

Overview: Having someone you love in the hospital is extremely difficult. Everyone faces their own unique emotions, circumstances, situations, and struggles when this happens.

The situation is even more complicated when there are children involved. You are not only navigating your own emotions, but also theirs. Add on another layer of complication if the hospital has rules against children visiting.

Children may feel left out, like they did something wrong, or like their person is extremely ill or dying since they are not able to visit. Remember grief and loss can also apply to losing their sense of routine or normalcy. (Remember this for yourself too!)

Sometimes it is difficult to have the conversation with children about them not being allowed to visit, or talk about their emotions, as well as your own. This book is meant to be a buffer to either begin, guide, or continue conversations, while also including a page of ideas for your child to connect with their person in the hospital.

Caregiver Connections: Aiming to help guide caregivers in language to use (or questions to ask) their child as they read through this book, caregiver connections are mentioned on specific pages. Suggestions for questions to ask on these pages to encourage conversation are included at the end of the story.About the Author: A Certified Child Life Specialist with a Masters of Science in Thanatology (grief, bereavement, death, and dying), Jessica Van Voorhis is trained in child development, and has been working with children in the hospital environment for about a decade. This includes working within pediatric facilities and emergency departments, but also within adult hospitals.

It was here she saw a truth many families face: while aiming to protect all patients medically, policies and rules often do not allow children to visit the hospital. To strengthen connection when these rules cannot bend, Remy and his story were created to help children and adults alike.