logo

You need not walk alone. We are The Compassionate Friends

butterflies
 Home
 Our Chapter
 Contact Us
 Frequently Asked Questions 
 Additional Resources
 TCF National Website 

 

Additional Resources

The Compassionate Friends national office Website is always a valuable resource for the newly bereaved as well as those who want additional support, and those who want to learn more about the organization and events, both national and international.

The DVD After a Child Dies dvd cover  is an invaluable resource for bereaved families and professionals seeking to understand the grief process, as well as how The Compassionate Friends can help. Also a valuable chapter tool in community outreach, including Public Broadcasting Service and for chapter discussion. DVD includes full version 23:11.                                                    

See a 13-min abridged version.



Cornerstone of Hope offers a variety of services for the grieving.  Cornerstone has special programs for grieving children, teens, and adults, including specific groups for young widows, those who have lost a child, and those affected by violent crimes, suicide, and neonatal loss, to name a few.

GROWW -- Grief Recovery Online for all bereaved -- is a place to find partners in pain sharing their experience and strength.  They have message boards, resource listings and secure chat rooms hosted by the most loving people on the Internet who are grieving.

Middleburg Heights SOS This suicide survivors support group meets from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday every month at Middleburg Heights Community Church, 7165 Big Creek Prkwy.  Contact Maureen Nowak, 440.237.1359, m3nowak@yahoo.com. 

Joel's Place for Children is an ongoing, twice-monthly, grief support group for children aged 5 -18 who have experienced the death of someone special in their lives.  Meetings are held at Bay Presbyterian Church in Bay Village and at Harbor Light Hospice in Highland Heights.

Carol A. Ranny writes wonderful columns on grief, and on coping with the death of a child, for the online  Examiner.com - Cleveland publication.
      Carol is a single adoptive parent of seven children. Two of her sons have died, one at age 13 in 1996 and one at age 31 in 2007. She has published a free newsletter for bereaved parents for 10 years. Having lost friends and a cousin at ages eight, 14 and 15, she has a lifetime of experience in grief and mourning: what helps, what doesn't and where to find resources.                                                                                 

Here's an example of Carol's columns:
  
                    How to help me…when my child has died

  • Speak my child’s name, to me and to others.  The sound of my child’s name, remembered and spoken by others, is a precious gift.
  • If you used to remember my child’s birthday, or even if you didn’t, call me.  Send me a card.  Send me an e-mail. Send me a rose.  My heart is breaking with lonely memories on that day. 
  • If you remember my due date, or the date my child was to be born, mention it to me.  Don't worry that you will remind me or make me sad...I will never forget.
  • Do you remember the day my child died?  Tell me you remember.  One of my greatest fears is that my child will be forgotten by all but me.
  • On holidays, mention my child in your card.  Don’t worry about reminding me of my pain…each holiday is painful now.  Your words comfort and soothe my broken heart, and let me know I’m not alone.
  • Tell me if you think of my child…tell me what reminded you.  Did my child make a difference in your life or teach you something?  If so, tell me, please.
  • Do you miss my child?  Please tell me so…
  • Your memories of my child may be the last new thing I’ll ever hear about my son or daughter.  Please, share them with me.
  • Stop by my child’s grave site and leave a flower, or bring a flower by my house in my child’s memory.  Sometimes I feel like I’m the only one who remembers what I lost, and that no one knows the pain I hide behind my every-day smile.
  • Speak my child’s name aloud to me, and let me hear one more time the name so carefully chosen, bestowed on someone so beloved and so deeply missed.
butterflies

 

Visit The Compassionate Friends National Office Website