GRIEF SUPPORT MESSAGE

August 2021

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Good morning! The following narrative is intended to reach the newly widowed in the area, of which there are at least 500 since January 2021, and 2/3 are women. It is written from a woman’s point of view but is applicable to men as well. You may not relate to all of it, but you may relate to some of it.

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HOW YOU CAN HELP ME
(partly copied from a cancelled web page)

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Please talk about my loved one, even though he is gone. It is more comfortable to cry than to pretend that he never existed. I need to talk about him, and I need to do it over and over.

Be patient with my agitation. Nothing feels secure in my world. Sadness hits me in waves, and I never know when my tears may flow. Just sit with me in silence and hold my hand.

Don’t abandon me with the excuse that you don’t want to upset me. You can’t catch my grief. My world is painful, and when you are too afraid to call me or visit or say anything, you isolate me at a time when I most need to be cared about. If you don’t know what to say, just come over, give me a hug, or touch my arm and gently say, “I’m sorry.” You can even say, “I just don’t know what to say, but I care, and I want you to know that.”

Ask me how I feel only if you have time to find out. I am not sick, I am grieving; “I am numb.” When you say I am strong, I feel that you don’t see me. I will not recover; I am grieving. That is different. My grieving may only begin 6 months after my loved one’s death. Don’t think that I will be over it in a year. I am not only grieving his death but also the person I was and the life we shared, plans we made, places we will never go together, and hopes and dreams that will never come true. My world has crumbled, and I will never be the same.

I will not always be grieving as intensely, but I will never forget him and rather than recover, I want to incorporate his life and love into the rest of my life. He is a part of me, always will be. Sometimes I will remember him with joy and other times with a tear. Both are OK.

Try our Grief Support series to learn more about “You.”

Ruth Turner
Outreach Chairman and Certified Grief Support Facilitator

GRIEF SUPPORT SCHEDULE 2021

All Support Meetings are 2:30 to 4:30 pm on

Sunday.

Following each session, those who wish to go meet at a nearby restaurant for dinner, which provides a good opportunity to get to know each other. 

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MAR 28; (SKIP APR 4), APR 11, 18, 25; MAY 2 : WPS Office (Office Suites Bldg) : 2906 SE Loop 820 Suite A, Ft Worth 76140 : Facilitator: Coy Studer 

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JUN 6, 13, 20, 27; (SKIP JUL 4); JUL 11 : St. John Lutheran Church : 1218 E Debbie Ln, Mansfield 76063 : Facilitator: Phyllis Weisheit 
 

JUL 18, 25; AUG 1, 8, 15 : WPS Office (Office Suites Bldg) : 2906 SE Loop 820 Suite A, Ft Worth 76140 : Facilitator: Ruth Turner 

AUG 22, 29; (SKIP SEP 5), SEP 12, 19, 26 : Pleasantview Baptist Church : 4400 Pleasant View Dr, Arlington 76107 : Facilitator: Coy Studer 
 

OCT 3, 10, 17, 24, 31 : University Christian Church (TBD): 2720 S University Dr, Ft Worth 76109 : Facilitator: Phyllis Weisheit 
 

NOV 7: HOLIDAY GRIEF SUPPORT : University Christian Church : 2720 S University Dr, Ft Worth 76109 
 

NOV 14: CANDLELIGHT REMEMBRANCE SERVICE - 3:00 PM : University Christian Church: 2720 S University Dr, Ft Worth 76109