Area community members are invited to join the residents of Fairhaven Senior Services in a group series of learning sessions offered to provide grief awareness and support for those who anticipate the passing of a loved one in the near future or who have experienced the loss of a loved one in the recent past.
The series, “Understanding Our Response to Loss: A Journey of Grief Awareness and Support,” will be offered for six weeks on Thursdays, June 2 through July 7, from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. in Fellowship Hall at Fairhaven Senior Services, 435 W. Starin Rd., Whitewater, and is being offered free of charge.
The series is collaboration between Fairhaven Senior Services and Rainbow Hospice Care.
“Everyone experiences loss and grief in their lives,” Fairhaven Chaplain Delisa Buckingham-Taylor said. “Yet there are misunderstandings about what grief is, and how we should handle the journey of grief. By offering this series, we hope people will know that their feelings and experiences in grief are normal, and that they are not alone.”
Robb Rennix, the Coordinator for Bereavement Services at Rainbow Hospice Care, will facilitate the presentations and discussions.
“Are we ever ‘prepared’ for the separation of a loved one; whether that is in the recent past, or anticipated in the near future? And once we experience that separation, whether a sudden occurrence or long-expected situation, what then shall we ‘do’ with this sorrow?” Rennix asked.
“This exploratory journey can begin when we choose to come together and seek to understand this experience we call ‘grief’ and then walk down those paths in the hope of remaining connected to those which we have been separated from. As we travel together, we can experience some ‘lightening of the load’ that we carry in our hearts and minds without the diminishing of our memories, love, and hope.”
Rennix will cover topics that include identifying and understanding grief; the loss of power and control; the experience of pain and suffering; the myths and realities of mourning; true and false guilt; and fear.
There will be opportunities for the attendees to discuss the topics and share their experiences. Participants may attend all of the sessions, or any combination of them. Refreshments will be served.
For more information about the series, please call the Fairhaven Chaplain’s office at (262) 473-2140, ext. 1191, or Rainbow Hospice Care at (920) 674-6255, ext. 5903.
