WINNIPEG -- Mother’s Day is coming up on Sunday, and for many people who have lost their moms it can be a day of grief and mourning.

For those hoping to help a friend or family member with this grief, therapist Carolyn Klassen said it’s important to remember, “Grief is the price that we pay for love."

“So where there’s great grief, there’s also great love,” she said.

Klassen said often when someone’s mother passes away, those around them don’t want to mention the person’s mom out of fear it could make them sad. But Klassen said it’s important to reach out to those who lost their moms on Mothers Day to let them know you want to check in on them.

“If they start to cry, it doesn’t mean you made them sad, it means you are holding space for the sadness that is already there,” she said.

Klassen said not everyone will want to talk about their mom, but it’s always good to open the door to allow them to do so.

“So many just long to be able to share a story or a memory and to have something to remember some of that love,” she said.

However, if someone does not want to talk about their mother, Klassen suggests being respectful and allowing the grieving person to decide how the situation should be handled.

“Allow them to mourn their mom in a way that makes sense for them,” she said.

A TOUGH MOTHER’S DAY FOR EVERYONE

Klassen noted that this Sunday will be a tough Mother’s Day for a lot of people, as it’s the second Mother’s Day in the pandemic.

“For many of us we might be in a different province than our moms. We may not have seen our moms for well over a year and that’s hard,” she said.

She added that even for those who live in the same place as their mom, it can still be hard not to be able to have them over for dinner or give them a hug.

“Hugs are so important between moms and kids, no matter what the age of those kids are,” Klassen said.

“They’re really good for us. They’re a way that we bond and connect and it’s been a long time since we’ve been able to hug our moms that we don’t live with.”

- With files from CTV’s Nicole Dube.