TCF News Spring 2022

TCF NEWS Spring 2022 | Issue No 110 In This Issue A newsletter for supporters of The Compassionate Friends COVER STORY: Making friends with now Pg 2 News & Comment Pg 7 In Memoriam - B arry Bridges Pg 8 Fundraising Round-up Pg 11 New Annual Fundraising Event the TCF 2.5 Challenge For her third online talk hosted by The Compassionate Friends guest speaker, Sangeeta Mahajan, shared her thoughts about the value for the bereaved of connecting with each given moment as a fresh opportunity for a moment of peace. Sangeeta helped us to think about the concepts of ‘mind’ and ‘time’ differently and shared simple skills to negotiate difficult inner states. She emphasised the importance of the ‘here and now’ as we find ways to grieve for and honour our loved ones. Review by Justine Wood Making friends with now really resonated with me. I was able to identify that I have lived my life between the past and the future and the grief and sorrow within both. I not only grieved for my son, Jake, for what I had lost but also what we should have had and all the life events he won’t have. He was 23 when he died in 2019. His dad died very suddenly from a rare form of cancer in 2016 and our life as a family was just shattered. He struggled so much and took his own life in June 2019. My whole world ended and the loss of my little family was so profound- the grief and sorrow just enormous. I have been involved with Compassionate Friends since losing Jake and have found it such a lifeline. Being with others who know the pain of losing a child has made me feel that I am not alone. Sangeeta’s talk was pivotal for me in that it really helped me connect with ‘now’ and how important this is in order to navigate this new life - one I would never have chosen - but the only one I have. Being in the Now is so important as we learn to travel through this life; it allows us to acknowledge how we get through each day and lets us learn to appreciate what we do have. I will always miss and love my boy and his dad but will learn not to feel so guilty if I feel any happiness in their absence. Making friends with now