Bye, Buddy

About

My name is Rachel Peterson, and Bye, Buddy is a space for me to explore my grief and share memories of my beloved brother, Sam, who died in 2024 after living bravely with brain cancer for over five years. I found sibling loss to be such an isolating experience, but the more I shared with other grievers, the less alone I felt. This is a place for me to share, but I also want this to be a space where others who have gone through sibling loss or any deep loss to be able to share and have their stories and loved ones’ lives witnessed.

It is called Bye, Buddy in reference to the movie Elf. Sam loved Elf, embodied Buddy the Elf, and our family would often quote the line “Bye, Buddy, hope you find your dad” at each other. I also often called him “Bud” or “Buddy” instead of Sam. So, this is my place to say “Bye, Buddy.”