That camping trip your family still talks about? Science says it’s worth more than any toy under the tree.
Emilie Kiser is sharing an emotional and candid look at navigating grief during the holidays.
On Monday, Dec. 1, the influencer posted an honest message to her followers. “To be honest, I don’t think I anticipated how sad social media was going to make me this month,” she wrote. “I honestly forgot today was December 1st, and that last night would kick off the Christmas wave.”
Emilie, who also shares 9-month-old son Teddy with her husband Brady, noted that he is still “too young” to take part in holiday traditions like Elf on the Shelf. “And honestly, I just don't have it in me,” she admitted. “These are the moments where grief makes everything feel heavy and confusing.”
Her grief stems from the loss of her 3-year-old son, Trigg, who tragically drowned in May.
“Last December was so different, so special, and so full of Trigg,” she wrote. “This year, and every year from now on, won't feel the same. It can still be special in its own way, but never the same.”
Kiser ended her post with a message of solidarity, explaining that she hopes her openness can “help someone else who's going through something similar.”
Just before Thanksgiving, the Arizona mom shared a TikTok video about how she’s mentally preparing for the season.
“I'm setting zero expectations for myself,” she said. “No matter what feeling I'm gonna feel on any of these holidays, I'm allowing myself to fully feel it… But if I need to step away or just can't do certain things on the holidays, I'm also completely okay with that.”
She also described the surreal nature of moving through life after loss. “I have just been feeling so weird about my life and how it constantly feels like I'm living a past life,” she said. “It feels like I had this life, and then I don't have it anymore.”
Becoming tearful, she added, “It feels almost like I'm repeating my years with Trigg with Teddy, because I'm going through all the same milestones I've gone through before, but he's not here anymore.”
