In light of the tragedy at NIU, I was asked by WGN news to speak on the topic of “Coping with a tragedy”. I live 30 miles away from Northern and it is the University that my daughter has plans to attend, so this recent school shooting was all too close to me. I was grateful to WGN for asking me to speak on the topic of expressing sympathy. It’s such a difficult, yet necessary, conversation. People often feel unprepared to deal with another’s grief and for good reason. While we are taught to “never talk to strangers” and to “buckle up for safety” and to “just say no”… we are never taught how to comfort someone who is dealing with a loss. And grief, either our own or someone else’s is the one experience we are all going to have at one time or another.