MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — When you’ve lost a loved one, getting through the holidays can be very emotional and painful. But there are some ways to cope with the sadness.

Mary Marcoux runs a grief group at North Memorial. She says it’s important to remember loved ones who have died.

“Because a lot of times people want to think, ‘we’re just going to think happy thoughts for the day,’ and ‘we’re not going to think anything sad.’ But that’s like saying ‘we’re not going to look at this window all day,’ and then that’s all people would do,” Marcoux said.

She says you can find ways to honor those who have died. Her father died, and he loved animals so now they give to an animal shelter every year in his name.

She says you can also put a picture up of the person, and light a candle in their memory.