Community Memorial Healthcare: Child Loss Grief Support Group.

Child Loss Grief Support Group

This newly formed support group was established for individuals who have suffered the loss of a child. If you have experienced the loss of a child of any age, please feel free to join us. You may be a parent, grandparent, aunt or uncle.

The support group will provide an opportunity to talk about your child and your feelings, and is a place to speak freely, knowing that you won’t be judged and that what you say is confidential.

Cheryl Stohs, Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) at Community Physicians Clinic, will serve as the group leader, and Lucy Papes, Licensed Advanced Social Worker (LASW), will assist in facilitating the group. Information on grief will be available, but the main emphasis will be on supporting each other through this life changing event.
Written by Cheryl Stohs and published in The Marysville Advocate in the To Your Health column in September 2009, the following article gives the background of the group's formation.

CMH Sponsors Grief Support Group for Loss of Child

How many times have we heard, “Our children should not die before us.” But what happens when we do lose a child? The loss and grief is indescribable. The pain may become bearable as time passes, but the grief never leaves us.

Children are not supposed to die...Parents expect to see their children grow and mature. Ultimately, parents expect to die and leave their children behind...This is the natural course of life events, the life cycle continuing as it should. The loss of a child is the loss of innocence, the death of the most vulnerable and dependent. The death of a child signifies the loss of the future, of hopes and dreams, of new strength, and of perfection.
Source: The Death Of A Child - The Grief Of The Parents: A Lifetime Journey, Joan Hagan Arnold and Penelope Buschman Gemma, 1994.

I work as a licensed practical nurse at Community Physician’s Clinic, part of Community Memorial Healthcare (CMH). We lost our son, Matthew, to leukemia when he was only 7 years old. I say we because the loss is not just mine; the whole family is affected.

Our strong faith in God helped us through this very difficult period. Unfortunately, at that time, there were no support groups. Several years after Matthew’s death, we, along with others who had experienced the loss of a child, started a grief support group. It later became inactive.

It’s time to start a support group once again. CMH will sponsor this grief support group for individuals who have suffered the loss of a child. We will have our first meeting on September 24, 2009 in the lower level of Community Physician’s Clinic, located at 1902 May in Marysville. The meeting will begin at 7:00 PM and last approximately one hour. If you have experienced the loss of a child of any age, please feel free to join us. You may be a parent, grandparent, aunt, or uncle. There is no charge to attend.

Grief touches us all differently. A support group can help bring people together to learn from others who have experienced a similar loss. It is an opportunity to talk about your child and your feelings. When you talk with others that have also lost a child, they have a better understanding than those that have not. The support group is a place to speak freely, knowing that you won’t be judged and that what you say is confidential.

At this first meeting, we will discuss the best time and date for monthly meetings. Lucy Papes, Licensed Advanced Social Worker (LASW), will assist in facilitating the group. Information on grief will be available, but the main emphasis will be on supporting each other through this life changing event.

If you have questions or would like more information, please call me at 785-562-2200 (home) or 785-562-6180 (cell).