Compassion Autumn Winter 2023

28 tcf.org.uk TCF NEWS | SUPPORTIVE EVENTS "I had the booking information open on my phone for months" In August we held a retreat weekend for parents who are bereaved of an only child or all their children in a venue close to Bath. 45 parents gathered together in the heart of the Somerset countryside to spend time together, sharing their stories, their precious children and their grief. Bereaved mum, Elizabeth came to a Compassionate Friends retreat for the first time and she has written about her experience at the weekend here. "I had the booking information for this retreat open on my phone for months – reluctant to book it; reluctant to go anywhere and talk about this pain that was stuck in my throat and suffocating me since I lost my wonderful son in October 2021 aged 24. He was my only child and my meaning for life. Very last minute I did book this retreat and arrived on the Friday evening still feeling that I had made the wrong decision – I really did not want to talk about anything to do with my son and my loss; it was my private pain. I am writing this review because I know now that going to this retreat was the best thing I could have ever done to be able to accept my situation. Why is that you may ask? Well for the first time I was around a group of people ‘who got it’!!! How we lost our children was different but we were all in the same boat – I did not have to explain the feeling; try to shield the person I was speaking to; manage the uncomfortable responses when people realise your plight. I could be free of all that pressure and for once just be with the pain I carried without filter. It was the first time since that fateful day that I actually spoke about my beautiful boy. Two volunteers also in the same position of having lost their only child sat with me during breakfast on the morning Some of the volunteers at the weekend retreat at Ammerdown