Empty Arms Bereavement Support: March 2011

A Western Massachusetts Chapter of Share Pregnancy and Infant Loss, Inc

WELCOME TO EMPTY ARMS BEREAVEMENT SUPPORT, INC.

Empty Arms Bereavement Support is a Western Massachusetts-based non-profit organization offering resources and support to families across the region who have experienced miscarriage, stillbirth, or infant loss. We are affiliated with the national organization Share. We have an established program in the Childbirth Center at Cooley Dickinson Hospital, where our organization began in 2007, and as our program has expanded CDH has continued to support us by hosting two of our monthly meetings as well as other special events. We also work with the birth centers at other local hospitals including Holyoke Medical Center, Baystate Franklin Medical Center, and Baystate Medical Center to provide resources for bereaved families.

If you are looking for support group meetings, we offer four different meetings each month. Please follow the links above for meeting times, locations and directions. We use this website and our Facebook page to keep participants updated about our meetings and other activities.

You don't have to attend a group to use our resources. Carol McMurrich, our founder and lead facilitator, is available for peer counseling and support. After speaking or e-mailing with you, Carol may be able to refer you to one of our telephone/e-mail support volunteers: somebody whose loss experience is very similar to your own. In this way, Empty Arms can offer peer support to those who may not yet feel comfortable with the larger support group setting.

We also have a lending library, an annual memorial walk, and occasional special events. On our "Links for Grieving Parents" page, we try to connect you to some resources we hope you will find helpful in the process of grieving your very difficult loss.

The New York Times has just published an insightful and touching interview with Joyce Carol Oates and Meghan O'Rourke about their recently published memoirs of grief. Oates has written about the death of her husband, and O'Rourke about the death of her mother, yet both very beautifully describe the complexities of grief that most of us will find familiar. If you have some time, it is worth reading: Why We Write About Grief.

MOTHER'S DAY WALK

Each year, members of Empty Arms, their friends, families, and interested community members gather at Look Park in the warm spring sunshine (or rain, or drizzle, or fog, but we hope for sunshine!) to remember the precious babies who changed our lives so profoundly. We gather and come together for a small, short ceremony in which the names of the babies are read and then we walk in unity around the park before coming together for a picnic lunch. This year, our lunch will be pot luck and we hope that this will draw people together more than in past years. We encourage you to invite family and friends, and to make a point to attend! This event is a lovely time to remember the baby (or babies) that changed your life. Everyone is welcome. You, your family, the general public. Those who are newly bereaved should be prepared that this is a family event, with babies and small children present. However, the focus is on the loss and amazing community that we have created around our loss and everyone always find it to be a supportive event.

Details:

Where: Look Park, Duck Brook Pavillion (upon entering the park, say you are there for the walk so you won't have to pay)

Time: Registration begins at 11, walk at 11:30, lunch at 12.

Bring: Something to share for the potluck!

If your last name begins with A-F, please bring appetizer or veggies to share. If your last name begins with F-S, please bring a main course or salad. If your last name begins with T-Z, please bring fruit or a dessert. We will provide drinks. If this seems intimidating or too complicated, just bring ANYTHING! We look forward to sharing this time with you.

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WELCOME TO EMPTY ARMS BEREAVEMENT SUPPORT, INC.

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A Conversation About Loss