Bachelor Nation fans saw Kelsey Anderson find love and get engaged to Joey Graziadei on Season 28 of “The Bachelor.”
During her time on the show, Kelsey opened up about her late mother, who passed away in 2018 after being diagnosed with breast cancer that metastasized to her bones.
Kelsey shared with Joey that she sees her mom through butterflies and the two connected over her whenever they saw butterflies during filming.
Now, Kelsey has taken to social media to open up about a recent experience she had and share how she navigates grief.
In a new video, she says, “Grief is crazy, guys. I still get people asking me, ‘Kelsey how’d you figure it out? How’d you deal with losing your mom?’ And I hate to break it to you, I still have not figured it out. Today I was scrolling on TikTok and I saw a video of this girl and her mom and it made me so angry. It pissed me off. I was just like, ‘That’s not fair.’ You know, in my mind I was like, ‘That’s not fair that she gets to do these things with her mom and I don’t.’ Which is crazy because she was just posting a wholesome video of her and her mom and it was super sweet, but in that moment, I was really angry. And looking back now, I’m like, ‘Okay, Kelsey, chill out.’ But what always brings me back down and makes me feel better again is perspective.”
Kelsey went on, explaining how perspective has continued to help her in her grief journey.
She shared, “I know this is going to sound crazy, but in my mind a lot of times I’m just like, ‘How lucky am I?’ Like, how lucky am I that it hurts this bad still? And I’m sure it always will, but that just shows the woman that my mom was and how much of an impact she had on my life. And still does. And how much I love her. I had my mom for 20 years and she’s the best mom and some people never get a mom like that.”
She went on, “And so I think that perspective does help a lot that I’m like, ‘I am very lucky that I had my mom for 20 years.’ I think that feeling these, being sad, being pissed, that’s normal. That’s okay and you can feel that way, but don’t let it overcome your life… This sucks and no, I’m not lucky that my mom passed [when I was] 20, but I’m lucky that I had her for 20 years.”
The Bachelor Nation star also revealed other methods of dealing with grief in addition to changing her perspective.
“I think that journaling has helped me a lot,” she stated. “I think talking about it with my friends and sharing stories with them, that’s the way I still feel my mom’s spirit. Doing things for others because that’s what she would always do. And I just think that perspective is a big thing, and I know that it’s a crazy way to think about it, but it’s really helped me. So I just had to share because I had a hard day and it’s okay to have a hard day, but figuring out how to pick yourself up and keep on moving is also very important.”
We’re sending our love to Kelsey and we appreciate her vulnerability. We know her sharing her story will help others going through a similar experience.
