Wear it
Wear the heart when making your mourning visible would feel helpful. There is no prescribed timeline.
A visible symbol of mourning
Make mourning
visible.
A small black heart with a simple message: I am mourning a death. Please be gentle with me.
Get a Mourning Heart
Discover its meaning Purchase through The Everafter Collective
The meaning
01“I am mourning a death.
Please be gentle with me.”
Some things are difficult to put into words. The Mourning Heart quietly communicates that you are carrying a loss.
It invites patience and care while leaving you free to decide whether you want to talk. No explanation is required.
Recognition · Choice · CareWhy visibility matters
Mourning used to be visible.
In many communities, clothing, armbands, and other customs made grief recognizable. These traditions varied across cultures, but they gave people a shared cue to respond with greater care.
Today, someone may be returning to work, shopping, taking their child to school, or simply getting through the day while carrying a loss no one else can see.
The Mourning Heart offers recognition without rules. It is a simple way to make space for mourning while protecting each person’s freedom to grieve in their own way.
A shared language
Wear it. Give it.
Share its meaning.
One small symbol. Three ways to help build a more caring response to grief.
Give it
Offer it as a quiet acknowledgment of someone’s loss, with no expectation that they wear it.
Share it
Explain its meaning so more people recognize the invitation to respond gently.
The heart itself
A small object with a clear message.
The Mourning Heart is a 28 × 25 mm black enamel pin finished with fine gold trim and a butterfly clutch backing. Each heart arrives with a card that explains its meaning, ready to wear or share.
- Finish
- Black enamel, gold trim
- Backing
- Butterfly clutch
- Included
- Meaning card
Hearts from $12
Choose your heartsQuantities, current pricing, shipping, and checkout are handled through The Everafter Collective store.
A growing circle of care
One to wear.
One to share.
Purchases help fund hearts shared freely with people and communities experiencing grief. Together, we can help this symbol become more widely understood.
Meet the creator
Grief is part of life.
Care should be, too.
Kathleen Gallacher is a death doula, end-of-life planner, and founder of The Everafter Collective. She created The Mourning Heart to help grief be more openly recognized in everyday life.
Read our story
Stay connected
Help make mourning
more visible.
Receive occasional Mourning Heart updates and thoughtful ways to help more people understand the symbol.
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