From the monthly archives:

February 2010

Lighting Candles at Church

Thumbnail image for Lighting Candles at Church February 28, 2010

The Compassionate Friends have an annual candle lighting ceremony and lighting candles is an important ritual in the Catholic Church. I light candles for Richard at least once a week.
So why do we light candles?
In lighting candles we see our prayer rising up to heaven. We join our prayer in solidarity with others that have [...]

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Miracles

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Church can be a dangerous place for a grieving parent.
In his sermon Sunday, Father Bill mentioned some miracles. He started with several taken from the Bible, including the story of Christ raising a little dead girl back to life.
Father Bill then told us of a local family. One of the boy’s in the family was getting [...]

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Richard Introduces Us To Ivy – Sort Of

Thumbnail image for Richard Introduces Us To Ivy – Sort Of February 19, 2010

Many times Richard and I were told we were just alike. One of our shared quirks was not liking it when someone was watching over our shoulder. We like our privacy.
When Richard was in his late teens and early twenties he didn’t often share what was going on in his “private life” with us – [...]

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Grieving Dad’s

Thumbnail image for Grieving Dad’s February 18, 2010

The following is from We Need Not Walk Alone, the national magazine of The Compassionate Friends.

The Father’s Grief The Father’s Grief
By David Pellegrin
TCF Honolulu, HI
At my second meeting of The Compassionate Friends about three years ago, one of the mothers said how nice it was to see a man attending, since “men grieve differently from women.”
Her [...]

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TCF Frankfort Website

Thumbnail image for TCF Frankfort Website February 11, 2010

“Our” chapter of The Compassionate Friends launched a new website recently.
If you live near Frankfort, KY and have lost a child or sibling you should check them out.
They’re having a conference in March. Details are at the website:
http://thecompassionatefriendsfrankfortky.com/

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Faith

Thumbnail image for Faith February 11, 2010

Faith seems to play a big part in dealing with our grief. It even played a part in causing our grief.
Faith in the medical profession was a big factor in Richard’s death. I’m sure the generic seizure medicine caused him to have his last seizure. We believed what they all told us – that generics [...]

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Perpetual French Fries

Thumbnail image for Perpetual French Fries February 4, 2010

I don’t guess this really has that much to do with grieving, but it’s sort of amazing.
In the week before Christmas I was on vacation. Debbie wasn’t, and since she works at our church, Christmas is one of her busy seasons.
I went in to help her one morning with some stuff to get ready for [...]

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The Dream Fades

Thumbnail image for The Dream Fades February 1, 2010

They say all good things must end. And so it seems to be.
I had a dream a few weeks ago. It gave me a great sense of peace.
The feelings from the dream were strong, but they’re fading.
Lately I’ve been thinking about what it was like for Richard in those last moments.
How long did it take? [...]

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