Compassion, Autumn 2021

Autumn 2021 - Compassion | www.tcf.org.uk 4 Reflections from the Editor Dear Friends Everywhere leaves are turning colour. It’s Autumn - again. Each season brings different memories for us, joyful or intensely sad. But whatever each season brings for us, going out walking, just putting one foot in front of the other, helps. I hope you have found an activity that helps you through your grieving, whether it be knitting, crafting, running, writing or another. I know some of you keep a book written by a bereaved parent by your bedside to help you get through the lonely hours. Reading about others’ experiences absorbs our mind and brings hope that we too will survive this traumatic grief journey. Thank you to those of you who wrote down your thoughts and feelings and shared them in the book, Upright with Knickers On. Reading about your experiences has helped many bereaved parents and especially those newly bereaved. Mary Hartley, our librarian, and I are hoping to compile another book, written by bereaved dads specifically for bereaved dads. There is a great demand for this. So, dads, we need your contributions please: your experience, how you survived, what helped you and what keeps you going. Perhaps you have found an activity, started a charity in your child’s name, found support through a TCF Facebook page, joined a group in your area, talked to another bereaved dad or have now become a volunteer for TCF or for another charity, or found something that makes you laugh. Please, while you’re going for a walk, pottering in the garden, cooking or even washing up, see what thoughts arise, then find a note pad or ipad and jot them down. It doesn’t matter how long or how short it is; just a few sentences will do. What matters is setting them down and sending them to me at compassioneditor@tcf.org.uk . Thank you. Together we will create a book that, in the future, will be of enormous help to bereaved Dads everywhere. With my love to you all, Gina Claye, Nikki and Robin’s mum Gina Claye