A Healthier and Better Way to Grieve in 2024

By Bridget Bagley and Hogan Hilling

On August 23, 2023, a Time Magazine article claimed that conventional therapy is not working to help people cope with the challenges of life, let alone death. 

Would you like to begin 2024 with a healthier and better way to cope with and manage the grief of losing a Loved One?

Are you frustrated that conventional therapy and methods haven’t helped you?

Are you frustrated with the way you have been managing the grief of losing a Loved One?

Would you like to replace despair with a ray of hope? 

Would you like to practice a different, healthier, and better way to manage your grief? 

If your answer is “yes’ to each question, then Bridget and I would like to introduce you to an idea she created in 2019. Her unique and unconventional idea has helped her manage grief healthily and productively, and more importantly, move forward with her life. 

Bridget created a Charm for her son Preston (28), who died after a head-on collision. She made several hundred and passed them out to people or left them in places during her hikes and vacations. People who found Preston’s Charm took photos of it and sent her email sympathetic and inspirational messages. The empathy people demonstrated in the passing of Preston’s Charm kept Preston’s spirit and legacy alive. In so doing, it also helped them manage their grief healthily and better and more importantly move forward with their lives.  

Bridget has made over 1,500 of Preston’s Charms, with 800 in circulation.  Preston’s Charm has 4 years of proven results and has been found and received by people in every state in America and 15 countries worldwide. To read more about the story of Preston’s Charm and its success visit “Preston’s Charm Empathy Kit”

Bridget also created a quiz to help and inspire people grieving the loss of a Loved One to choose a healthier way to grieve and move forward with their lives. The quiz does require overcoming some of the myths about grief and facing the truth about it that most people are afraid to discuss and accept.


In the case of grief, the truth will not set you free. However, it will lead you to a healthier, more peaceful, and happier way of managing grief. But, more importantly, it will encourage relatives, friends, neighbors, co-workers, and even strangers to practice empathy and provide you with the emotional support you need and desire. Bridget and I feel that if you answer these questions truthfully, it will be an eye-opener and hopefully encourage you to stop the insanity that keeps you stuck in your grief.

Bridget and I believe the two of the biggest factors that keep people stuck in their grief are: 1) Turning grief into a competition and 2) not realizing and seeing that there is a “selfish side” of grief people are afraid to discuss and accept. Hence, we created a quiz on self-reflection to support our claim. 

Stop Turning Grief Into a Competition

During our spiritual journey with Preston’s Charm, Bridget and I have met people who lost a Loved One in different ways. People whose Loved Ones were murdered and the killer was never found. People whose Loved Ones are missing. People whose Loved Ones died from miscarriage, drowning, car accidents, drug overdose, suicide,…. The list goes on and on. 

While each person can make his or her argument as to which one is more painful, all an argument about whose pain is worse only results in creating more pain for everyone. It also creates negative and dysfunctional behaviors that split families and friends apart. 

When a person turns grief into a competition it also escalates his or her anger. In turn, it creates a toxic environment filled with hate, resentment; and isolation because people don’t want to be around a person who is constantly behaving in unhealthy ways.

Although Preston was needlessly killed by a drunk driver and my son, Wesley, died of medical complications, Bridget didn’t make me feel as if her grief was worse than mine. All her energy and time went into making sure I was okay and helping me move forward healthily and productively.

The Grief and Empathy Self-Reflection Quiz

Question #1: Do you only talk about your grief when you are with other people? 

Question #2: Have you ever mentioned your spouse’s grief when talking about your grief with other people? Your surviving children’s grief? Your relative's grief? The friends of your Loved One who passes away?

Question #3: Have you taken time out from your grief to practice empathy for your spouse’s grief? Surviving children? Relatives? Your friends? Friends and co-workers of your Loved One who passed away? You are not the only one struggling with grief. 

Question #4: If you attend a grief support group, have you ever invited your spouse to attend with you? Your surviving children? Your relatives? Your friends? The friends of your Loved one who passed away?

Question #5: What positive thing have you done to help yourself move forward with life? For your spouse? Your surviving children? Your relatives? The friends of your Loved One who passed away?
 

What Bridget and I have discovered during our 4-year journey with Preston’s Charm is that grieving the loss of a Loved One doesn’t only need to be about sadness and despair. It can also include a healthy way to express joy and happiness for the life you had with your Loved One and that he or she is in Heaven. 

We also discovered that empathy is a two-way street. To receive it, one must practice empathy. The passing of Preston’s Charm is a testament that it works. As Bridget stated, “While Preston’s Charm was helping other people mourning the loss of a Loved One, it was also helping me.” To read the testimony from some of the people who received or found Preston’s Charm, visit the Testimonial Page on Preston’s Charm Empathy Kit website at www.prestonscharm.com 

We strongly believe that Preston’s Charm Empathy Kit will “provide you with pockets of joy” to replace some of the grief. And if you do the work with the Kit, we feel it will also replace your despair and cultivate hope for a healthier and more productive life. 

If you answered the quiz questions truthfully and would like to choose a healthier and more joyful way to manage grief and move forward with your life in a way that will make your Loved One proud, then Bright and I invite you to join our spiritual journey with Preston’s Charm Empathy Kit. Together we will keep your Loved One’s spirit alive! 

About Hogan Hilling and Bridget Bagley
Hogan Hilling is a nationally recognized author of 13 published books. He is currently writing a book about this amazing journey with the Charms "Preston's Charm: A Charm-ing Healthy and Empathetic Approach to Grief.” His recent book “Solving Cold Cases” debuted in March 2023. Hilling has been a contributor to the Good Men Project and has been featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show in 2001 and ABC’s The Story of Fathers and Sons Documentary in 1999; and in major newspapers like the Los Angeles Times, Orange County Register, New York Times, Chicago Tribune, and Christian Science Monitor.

Bridget Jill White Bagley was born in Brawley California. Her family moved to Arizona when she was in kindergarten. She works at a mini storage business and is a member of the Winslow Elks Lodge #536 in Winslow, Arizona. Bridget lives with her husband Bill Bagley, whom she married in 2012. Bridget and Bill have a blended family that includes 9 children and 9 grandkids.