……………………………

The Visiting Nurse and Community Health’s Hospice Care invites you to their Celebration of Light Holiday Service – a service of comfort and hope especially for those experiencing loss.

Thursday, December 8th, 2011 at 7:00pm

Church of Our Saviour

21 Marathon St., East Arlington, MA

For more information, please contact Nancy Strong, Hospice Bereavement Coordinator at 781-643-6090 ext. 1342. Download the flyer here.

……………………………

The Compassionate Friends Worldwide Candle Lighting is hosting their 15th annual candle lighting on December 11th, 2011.

This memorial event will happen worldwide at 7:00pm local time, creating a virtual wave of light as hundreds of thousands of persons in all time zones commemorate and honor the memory of children in a way that transcends all ethnic, cultural, religious, and political boundaries.

Many people will participate in this memorial in their own homes or small groups, but you are welcome to join the Greater Boston Chapter of The Compassionate Friends for their candle lighting gathering in Jamaica Plain.

December 11th, 2011 from 4:00pm to 8:00pm

Forest Hill Cemetery, 95 Forest Hill Ave, Jamaica Plain, MA

Read about the details for this event and download the event flyer here. Pre-registration is recommended. Register by calling Linda Strother at 617-288-8068 or e-mailing thecompassionatefriendsofboston@hotmail.com.

……………………………

We warmly invite you to come to The Children’s Room for our

Circle of Light Community Candle Lighting

Wednesday, December 14th, 2011

6:30pm to 7:30pm

at The Children’s Room in Arlington, MA

Readings, a community art project, and refreshments will all be part of the evening. Please RSVP to Sarah at sarah@childrensroom.org or 781-641-4741 if you are interested in attending.

You can download a flyer for this memorial evening by clicking here.

Please join The Children’s Room for an evening of remembrance, comfort and hope…

In this season of light, remember the light
your loved one has brought to your life.

]]> http://childrensroom.org/20111210/circle-of-light-community-candle-lighting/feed/ 0 http://childrensroom.org/20110901/save-the-date-annual-memories-walk-october-3/ http://childrensroom.org/20110901/save-the-date-annual-memories-walk-october-3/#comments Thu, 01 Sep 2011 15:45:50 +0000 betzi http://childrensroom.org/?p=2521 Memories That Move Us – Our annual Memories Walk was a wonderful day for our community, and we thank our many supporters for being part of our biggest walk ever!  Please check back soon to see more photographs from the day, featuring walkers in bright green shirts. We will also be posting more news about how this event helped with our fall fundraising efforts to support The Children’s Room.

Still want to donate to this year’s walk? It’s not too late to make an online contribution at  Firstgiving.

Again, we thank our generous walk sponsors, all the friends and volunteers and donors who made our Memories Walk a success again this year, and we especially thank the Arlington Hockey Club for another amazing year of support!

Ten years after losing her husband, Teresa Mathai shared some of her memories and reflections with us. “Ten years ago, on September 11, 2001, when I heard my husband Joseph Mathai was at a conference at Windows on the World at the WTC and missing after the buildings collapsed, I was in shock and overwhelmed. As a mother with two young kids, I did not know how to break the news to them and how to face the uncertain future ahead. Good friends of ours, Joe and Candy Bergantino, suggested that I call The Children’s Room, which I did. Our family will never forget the kindness and loving support we received from The Children’s Room from those early days of this tragedy, and we will forever be grateful for the continued friendship we have maintained all these years!”

Here at The Children’s Room, we work every day to help support grieving families, and we know that the death of a parent or sibling remains one of society’s least understood and least supported issues. Yet we are inspired daily by stories of courage, and stories of families who turn loss into healing.

Teresa Mathai recently helped Boston families record their memories of loved ones when the 9/11 Memorial Museum visited Boston, through a series of audio recording sessions at The Children’s Room. One of those who shared his story was Franklin Ross, whose father died on 9/11.

Franklin wrote a book of poems to honor his father, and his poetry illustrates how creative expression can transform pain into meaning and beauty. His collection of poetry honors the life of his father Richard Ross, and shines as a beacon of hope for others who have experienced a profound loss. We offer a link so you can read more about the collection of poems by Franklin Ross. Franklin has generously offered to donate part of the proceeds from his book to The Children’s Room.

Two women who have become part of our circle of support at The Children’s Room are Susan Retik and Patti Quigley, who were both widowed on 9/11. Together, Susan and Patti have helped hundreds of widows through the foundation they built together, called  Beyond the 11th . The Children’s Room is grateful for the generous support we have received from the David E. Retik and Christopher D. Mello Foundation, which in turn has helped sustain our programs for grieving families in Massachusetts.

Our Director of Education and Training, Deborah Rivlin, worked with Boston-area 9/11 families for years. In a Boston Globe article this past week, Deborah reflected; “The loss is forever, you are changed forever, but you learn to integrate the loss into your life. There’s an opportunity that comes, in finding ways to make meaning of the loss.”

As a resource to our community, we offer a list of suggestions for talking to your child about the tenth anniversary, recommended by the National Alliance for Grieving Children.

The community support was simply amazing.  We would like to thank everyone who walked, donated, and sent words of encouragement.  And we would like to give special thanks to our Sol Circle walkers, the Arlington Hockey Club, and Robert’s Birthday party.

Donations can still be made online at www.firstgiving.com/childrensroom, or by mail.

You can help her reach this amazing new target to fund ten children by donating today.
To read more about Victoria and her story, visit our Victoria’s Run page.

We share and embrace the Massachusetts 9/11 Fund’s themes of service, remembrance, and volunteerism, and are deeply grateful to have had our Annual Memories Walk selected as one of this year’s local “United We Serve” volunteer projects.

Anyone who would like to donate to the Mass 9/11 Fund can find their Memories Walk team at Firstgiving.com/childrensroom.

The Cameron G. O’Connor Foundation
…. rippling effects ….
Presents an Evening to
~ LIVE ~LOVE~LAUGH~
Saturday, March 28, 2009
7:30pm – Midnight
Sons of Italy, 19 Prentiss Road, Arlington, MA  02474
Tickets:   $20.00
“The mission of the Cameron G. O’Connor Foundation is to sponsor programs that support the educational needs, athletic pursuits and emotional growth of the youth of our community.”

For more information visit the foundation’s website or email  cgofoundation@comcast.net.

“This was my great grandmother’s memory string,” Laura told Whiskers in a loud voice. “Then it was my grandmother’s, then my mother’s, and now it’s mine.”

Making a memory string is a way to remember family history, and that’s just what kids at The Children’s Room can do when they make one of their own.  Listening to the book being read aloud to them is just one way to get ideas for how to make a memory string. Children in our groups can also choose from a large donation of beads that have been collected for the launch of this special project, where kids can paint wooden beads or make beads out of clay, then add them to beads or buttons from home.