Loretto Academy- Niagara Falls-Canada

With great sadness we share the passing of a beautiful soul and former Loretto girl Lena Basile-Buric.
Our sincere condolences to her family.

Lena Basile Buric Obituary - Niagara Falls, ON Celebrate the life of Lena Basile Buric, leave a kind word or memory and get funeral service information care of Patterson Funeral Home Ltd..

Thank you to Dianna Kington for sharing a photo from their 50th Reunion celebrations, Class of 1976.

The 1976 graduation class recently held a reunion at Napoli Restaurante with 18 grad and four former teachers, Rita Mary Cote, Adrienne Corti, Leslie Khan and Candy Bagnulo in attendance.

With great sadness we announce the passing of former Loretto student Agnes Catherine Zeman Parteno.
May she rest in peace.

Agnes Catherine Parteno Obituary May 22, 2026 - Affordable Burials and Cremations View Agnes Catherine Parteno's obituary, send flowers, find service dates, and sign the guestbook.

A few historic photos taken from Terrapin Point on the U.S. side and you can see Loretto in the background.

Easter is often spoken about as a time of hope, renewal, and new beginnings.

But when you’re grieving, those words can feel distant, almost like they belong to someone else’s life, and not yours.

The world starts to look a little brighter this time of year. The days stretch out a bit longer and people begin talking about fresh starts and moving forward. And inside, you may be thinking, “how am I supposed to feel any of that when someone I love is missing from it all?”

Here’s the thing…grief doesn’t follow the seasons.

It doesn’t ease just because spring has arrived. In some ways, days like Easter can make the absence feel even worse. Because you remember what these days used to look like. The traditions, the meals, the way their presence filled the room in ways you didn’t fully notice until it was gone.

Now there’s a space where they used to be, and it can feel heavier than ever, even in a season that’s supposed to feel light.

You might find yourself going through the motions, sitting at the table, hearing laughter around you, and yet feeling like you’re somewhere else entirely. Or maybe you’ve stepped away from it this year because it just feels like too much.

Either way, there’s no right or wrong way to move through a day like this. Easter, like every meaningful day after loss, changes. It becomes something different than it once was, a day where joy and sorrow can exist side by side, where memories can bring both comfort and pain in the very same moment.

You might smile at something and then feel the weight of their absence just seconds later. And that doesn’t mean you’re doing anything wrong. It means you’re carrying love. And love doesn’t disappear just because someone’s gone. It finds new places to live in the way you still think of them without even trying.

It’s still there…even when everything else feels different.

So if Easter feels heavy this year, if it doesn’t look or feel the way it used to, if you’re just trying to make it through the day, that’s enough. You don’t have to force yourself to feel hopeful. You don’t have to celebrate in ways that no longer feel right.

You’re allowed to take this day as it comes, one moment at a time, honoring both what was and what is.

And if you can, maybe find one small way to feel close to them. Not as a way of letting go, but as a way of holding on in a way that fits who you are now.

Because even here in the middle of grief…love still exists.

Gary Sturgis
Author: ‘SURVIVING GRIEF – 365 Days A Year