"Please don't ask me if I'm over it yet –
I'll never be over it.
Please don't tell me he's in a better place –
He isn't here with me.
Please don't say at least she isn't suffering –
I haven't come to terms with why she had to suffer in the first place.
Please don't tell me you know how I feel –
Unless you have lost a child, too.
Please don't ask me if I feel better –
Bereavement isn't a condition that clears up.
Please don't tell me at least you had him this long –
When would you choose for your child to die?
Please don't tell me that God never gives us more than we can bear.
Please just say you are sorry.
Please just say you remember my child...if you do.
Please just let me talk about my child.
Please mention my child's name.
Please just let me cry."
The Compassionate Friends National Office
877-969-0010
www.compassionatefriends.org
Some of us have found our faith to be a source of strength, while some of us are struggling to find answers. Some of us are angry, filled with guilt or in deep depression, while others radiate an inner peace. But whatever pain we bring to this gathering of The Compassionate Friends, it is pain we will share, just as we share with each other our love for the children who have died. We are all seeking and struggling to build a future for ourselves, but we are committed to building a future together. We reach out to each other in love to share the pain as well as the joy, share the anger as well as the peace, share the faith as well as the doubts, and help each other to grieve as well as to grow. We Need Not Walk Alone. We Are The Compassionate
We need not walk alone. We are The Compassionate Friends. We reach out to each other with love, with understanding, and with hope. The children we mourn have died at all ages and from many different causes, but our love for them unites us. Your pain becomes my pain, just as your hope becomes my hope. We come together from all walks of life, from many different circumstances. We are a unique family because we represent many races, creeds, and relationships. We are young, and we are old. Some of us are far along in our grief, but others still feel a grief so fresh and so intensely painful that they feel helpless and see no hope.
Lisa Dechant, Chapter Treasurer
Gail Blase, Chapter Secretary
Mary Anne Macko, Assistant Secretary
Linda Stauffer, Chapter Newsletter &
Website Creator & Maintenance
Theresa Sitko, Memorial Garden Director
Barbara Reborati- Chapter Liason
Dianna Cox
Donna Hesse
Diane Guerecki
Remembrance and thank you cards
Diane Guerecki, Donna Hesse and Sierra Doyle. They do this in memory of their children.