Stathi Meets The Compassionate Friends
Posted on Jul 23, 2013
Just a few weeks ago, Stathi took a trip to Boston to meet an organization that helps bereaved parents. Here's what he had to say about The Compassionate Friends.
Dear Angels,
I spent the July 4th weekend up in Boston, attending the annual national convention of the The Compassionate Friends. Compassionate Friends is the largest organization in the country dedicated to serving the needs of bereaved families. They have programs for parents, siblings, grandparents and other family members who might want to be involved in the grieving process.
This was my first time at the conference and it felt good to be among those who have travelled the same road, sharing our experiences, stories and the loved one’s we lost. To say I felt at home and totally understood would be an understatement. I know it’s hard to imagine, living in a world so big, so full of people, that the one thing bereaved families deal with the most is isolation and loneliness.
Thankfully, pediatric deaths are rare in our country, but kid’s still die, and leave behind a lot of grieving family and friends. If you’ve never experienced it (and I hope you never will), it’s hard to relate and help. Compassionate Friends provides a safe haven to do just that. Talk about your loss without feeling self-conscious or guilty, something that bereaved parents feel all the time. It’s a shame, but that’s the way it is.
Cultivating relationships with parents is key to expanding the mission of Lainie’s Angels to families in need. As we move forward, one of our key goals is to recruit parents to become peer mentors and advocates. Besides attending the conference as a bereaved parent, I was there to speak to other parents who lost their children to cancer, and let them know that Lainie’s Angels is there for them.
Compassionate care is an under-served, unmet human need and Lainie’s Angels is trying to change that fact. But the only way we can do that, is to make parents who have lost their children or endured the journey of cancer treatment and seen their children survive, aware of the fact that they can be a source of comfort and strength to others just like them. This is our goal and mission. Please give generously and help us help them!
Love
Stathi