The Grief Walk: “There’s a place for you on the path” — with Heather Hemming

For Heather Hemming, grief has never been a stranger — and neither has community care. A recently retired social worker with Nova Scotia Health, Heather has spent over a decade supporting patients and families through profound moments of loss, change, and transition. Now she’s turning her compassion outward in a new way — by leading the Grief Walk at Acadia Park this May. 
 
“The Grief Walk is about creating a gentle space where people can show up exactly as they are,” says Heather. “We don’t ask why you’re grieving. We just say — there’s a place for you here.” 
 
Organized as part of Nova Scotia Walk Day and supported by Grief Matters, NS Walks and Nova Scotia Health’s Palliative Care Bereavement Program, the Grief Walk is a simple, powerful invitation: come walk together, with grief. Whether it’s fresh or long-held, personal or complex, visible or unspoken, grief in all its forms is welcome. 
 
Heather understands this deeply. Over her career, she’s supported people through illness, organ donation, palliative care, job loss, aging, and more. She’s seen how grief touches everything — not just death, but changes in health, identity, and connection. And she’s felt it herself. 
 
“I’ve grieved the loss of people, yes. But I’ve also grieved changes in how I see myself and how the world sees me,” she shares. “We’re all grieving something — whether we’ve said it aloud or not.” It’s this philosophy that shapes Heather’s vision for the walk. “This isn’t therapy or a support group. It’s a walk,” she says. “But it’s a walk with intention. With care. With room for silence, for conversation, for emotion — or none of those. You choose."

Heather’s warmth, wisdom, and depth of experience offer quiet reassurance. “Grief isn’t something you get over,” she explains. “You grow around it. And sometimes it surprises you — a song, a scent, a memory — and it hits you all over again. That’s not weakness. That’s being human.” 
 
Held in the heart of spring, the walk takes place in the beautiful Acadia Park — a space cared for by community members and blooming with new life. “It’s a perfect setting,” Heather says. “There’s a quiet metaphor in the trees budding out again after winter — that maybe, after all we’ve been through, something tender is trying to grow in us too.” 
 
Accessibility and choice are central. Participants can move at their own pace, speak or remain silent, walk alone or with others. “Some people will cry. Some may laugh. Some might just walk and breathe,” says Heather. “Whatever you’re carrying, you don’t need to hide it or explain it. You can just show up.” 
 
And that message — show up as you are — is especially for those unsure whether the walk is for them. 
 
“If someone’s hesitating, I’d say: just come. You can leave at any point. You don’t have to talk. You don’t have to say why you’re there,” Heather encourages. “But if something in you is stirring, if this walk is calling to something inside you — follow it. That’s grief asking to come up for air.” 
 
Heather will open the walk with a brief welcome before participants head out for a few gentle loops through the park. There will be resources available for anyone looking for additional grief support afterward.  “My biggest hope? That people realize they’re not alone. That their grief — however it looks — belongs. And that there’s a path forward, one step at a time.” 
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Walk Details:  

Wednesday, May 14 | 6:30 p.m. | Acadia Park, Sackville

The featured walk will take place at Acadia Park in Sackville, and we would love to see you there. If Sackville isn’t feasible, there are community walks happening across Nova Scotia. Find one near you at hikenovascotia.ca/ns-walks-walk-day/. 
 

Helpful resources: 

More information about grief and available resources can be found here: 

Let’s Talk About Grief | Nova Scotia Health