Compassion, Winter 2021

Winter 2021 - Compassion | www.tcf.org.uk 4 Reflections from the Editor Dear Friends I have heard that it is good to try and think positively. Well the only positive thing I can think about having been a bit poorly recently is that as I’ve not been out to the shops so I haven’t had to endure seeing all the Christmas stuff already cluttering up the shelves. I haven’t yet felt the urge to pick up a cooking apple and hurl it at the singing Santa. No doubt that will come. In early October I attended a one-day retreat at Romsey in Hampshire as a volunteer. It was great to be together face to face again, and able to share in person after the cancellations of the past 18 months. Twenty-three newly bereaved parents were there, as well as seven of us volunteers. We sat together chatting over a cup of coffee, sharing and knowing we’d be understood. We didn’t have to ‘wear a mask’ and pretend. It reminded me of when I was first bereaved, and the relief and comfort I found in realising I was no longer on my own. If you took part in one of the four one-day retreats held this Autumn, I hope you also found comfort in the sharing and the company. And for those who’ve attended the online events, as I have also, my thanks to the staff and volunteers who’ve made them possible. They help too. As for the Christmas holidays, after the death of your child they will carry a shadow, a yearning for what might have been, an added poignancy. However, we bereaved parents do survive these days, difficult as they are. What matters is that, as far as possible, you are able to do whatever feels right for you, and eventually be able to carry the loving memory of your child with you into future Gina Claye