Garrettsville – St. Ambrose Church will be offering “to the community” a gathering of continuous grief support and information on Wednesday evenings, from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. in the church hall, starting April 18th through May 23rd. Since each gathering builds upon the previous gatherings, participants should try to attend all of the weekly sessions of this beautiful, gentle program. The special “Grand Finale,” presented in “Week Number Six,” is definitely something wonderful to experience and to look forward to. It will be helpful in our planning if interested participants would call the St. Ambrose Rectory at 330-527-4105 or Linda Simpson at 330-569-7853.
Linda R. (Malobenski) Simpson, of Hiram, will be facilitating “Grief Gathering 2018.” Simpson, a graduate of James A. Garfield High School, attended Hiram College and graduated from the Cincinnati College of Mortuary Science in 1994 with a Bachelor of Mortuary Science Degree. In 1995, she completed her apprenticeship in Port Clinton, Ohio, and became a licensed embalmer and funeral director in 1996. She is also licensed by the Ohio Department of Insurance, regarding preplanned funerals. In 1999, she became a member of the American Academy of Bereavement and also became a Bereavement Facilitator, after attending and passing the four day Certification Award Program offered by the AAB in Nashua, New Hampshire. In June of 2000, Simpson attended the five day “World Gathering on Bereavement” in Columbus, Ohio. This wonderful event, which was being presented once every five years, allowed professionals, caregivers, and grieving individuals from all over the world to gather together, to support each other, and to learn more about grief. In August of 2005, she attended the final “World Gathering on Bereavement” in Vancouver, British Columbia.
People grieve for many reasons. We may grieve from the loss of a loved one through death, from the loss of a job, from the loss of a spouse and children through divorce, from the loss of a familiar home and town, or from the loss of a pet. The list is endless.
We welcome all grieving individuals to “Grief Gathering 2018.” We invite you to take whatever information you need and to leave the rest behind.
Support means “I will walk with you. I will not try to change you or how you feel. I will simply be here beside you.”
