Connecting Seniors
Greg Boerma · 60 min
After surviving a plane crash, losing a daughter to stillbirth, and years of chronic pain, Greg Boerma discovered that joy is not something you choose — it's something you become.
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Greg Boerma grew up in a large family deeply involved in sport, moving between swimming, basketball, scuba diving, ice hockey and more. He refused to narrow his life to one pursuit, wanting instead to experience everything available to him. A friend once described him as childlike for seeing wow in the flowers on a bushwalk, in photography, in every detail. That childlike wonder became his anchor.
Then came the fractures. A light plane crash left him with spinal injuries and chronic pain that lasted years. He lost his daughter Tabitha Rose to stillbirth at 21 weeks, a loss that devastated him and his wife differently, even though they loved each other deeply. For a long time, grief and trauma owned him. But around 2018, he made a decision to take full responsibility for his own well-being and started learning meditation. It took years before he felt the shift, but gradually his mind quieted, his pain released, and his sleep returned.
Today Greg works as a counselor supporting grieving parents, particularly fathers, through the Bereaved Dads Camp and Bears of Hope. He discovered that joy is not something you choose each morning but something you become when you stop carrying the past into the present. He reframed the loss of Tabitha Rose by asking what blessings came from it, and found his purpose in supporting others who grieve. He learned that forgiveness, especially of yourself, is the path to peace. And he built a life where pain and happiness coexist, where grief does not mean you stop living, but rather how you choose to honour the people you have lost by continuing your own.
⚠️ Content advisory: this episode discusses grief & loss, which some listeners may find distressing.
If you need support, you're not alone. Help is available: • Lifeline (24/7 crisis support): 13 11 14 · lifeline.org.au • GriefLine: 1300 845 745 · griefline.org.au
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