After the loss of a loved one there is, at first, a great buzz of activity as we plan arrangements and family and friends come together. There is comfort in the close press of everyone, in the shared tears and hugs, and the gifts of food and remembering. Religious services give meaning and hope as the community gathers around us in love and support.
Then the services are over, relatives and friends go home, we are left to enter a new and strange land—a land where one of the persons who has given meaning to our life is gone. Now there are spaces in the mind, spaces in the days and nights. Often when we least expect it, the pain and the preoccupation come back, as we journey through this new and strange land.
How to say goodbye when we just lost someone we love? We feel grief when we lose someone we love. There is no substitute for mourning and weeping at a time of painful separation. Grief is a form of love, and that love needs to be expressed.
Finding Joy in Life Change is a six-week course designed to focus on the grief process. The class provides information about grief and loss. Skills for coping with grief are introduced. Giving and receiving support through mutual sharing helps one realize we are not alone on our journey.
PebbleCreek Community Church offers Finding Joy in Life Change led by Tom and Joan Clark, both of whom have experienced the loss of a spouse. The class meets at Robson Reserve in the game room. The fall session is scheduled to begin Oct. 17. Contact Tom Clark at 262-442-9973 or [email protected].
All are invited to attend PebbleCreek Community Church worship services Sundays in Eagle’s Nest Ballroom at 9 a.m. Each service is taped and available to be viewed Sunday afternoon after 2 p.m. MST. To watch, click www.churchpcc.org.