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REACHING OUT TO THE COMMUNITY
Red Bird Center therapists were guest speakers at the Second Annual Congenital Heart Defects Family Conference and Teen Summit which was held in Houston.They addressed participants on how to handle the stress of parenting children with congenital heart disease. The participants were actively engaged and talked about the loss issues involved in their lives.
RED BIRD CENTER ANNOUNCES A NEW GROUP:
"LOSS OF A SPOUSE"
This group will meet every other Tuesday at noon. Please contact us for details.
"He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song; I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong."
Poem by W.H. Auden from verse #8
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In the beginning, " Things fall apart ; The center cannot hold." The loss of a spouse is often a catastrophic event as in Yeats' poem. The world is in a state of chaos. Struggling to hold on, the surviving spouse is unsure of what to do. As he/she struggles to make sense or meaning from this experience.The mourner may experience extreme sadness, anger, anxiety, helplessness, denial, fear, guilt and loneliness. These feelings may surface again and again as the mourning process continues.Who am I now without my partner?Where do I fit in a social structure which recognizes couples, but rarely singles? How will I manage financially? How will this loss affect my children? How will I cope with the loneliness? These are only a few of the issues widows and widowers must face. Remembering is painful , but it can also be therapeutic. Remembering who we were with our mate reminds us that we are still this lovable human being. We remember the special moments of our lives.We remember the small gestures which brought us joy and comfort. We are still this person who was part of this relationship. We are still this person who knows how to give and knows how to love.We remember to give thanks for the good times we had together.We take these positive feelings with us as we craft a new period in our lives. We do not know yet how this new life will look, but we do know we have skills.We do know we have value.
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