Heavenly Peace, a Christmas Memory

By John Henkels, Strongsville OH

Well the holidays are here…  Be it Christmas, Hanukah, New Year’s, Kwanza or any holiday that you may celebrate.  With the holidays comes perhaps some anticipation that it is going to be hard and indeed, sometimes the holidays may be hard.  Holidays are usually a time with family and often times; we are reminded that one of our loved one’s is not with us.  However, what I wo

Christmas after the loss of a loved one

 Bereavement counsellor, Del Marie McAlister looks at how people can still  celebrate Christmas after bereavement.

Oh, we talk about the best cold medications and if cherry cough syrup tastes better to kids than orange. We can recommend preschools and sneakers. But the hardest part of parenting is the least often discussed. The roughest aspect of being a parent is losing a child.

Upon the death of my precious daughter Nina on my birthday, May 11, 1995, I became eligible for the “club” that no parent wants to ever belong.  That “club” is The Compassionate Friends (TCF), a self-help group for bereaved parents, siblings and grandparents who have experienced the death of

December is a month filled with a disproportionate amount of emotion for my family.  Like so many others we will come together along with friends to celebrate Christmas.