Special Thanks

Galveston County Chapter
July 2013
Support Meetings held on 1st Tuesday
of the Month (exception is December)
Mail:
PO Box 568
Texas City, TX 77592
Phone:
(409) 996-9440
(Calls to this number will be returned
within 24 hours)
Website:
www.tcfgalvestoncounty.org
Chapter Leaders:
Mandi Bellmyer &
Ronnie Johnson
strosfanz1@sbcglobal.net
Treasurer:
Dana Rogers
sabalo130@comcast.net
Newsletter:
Lori Kelly
For email submissions:
sabalo130@comcast.net
National Office:
The Compassionate Friends
PO Box 3696
Oak Brook, IL 60522-3696
(877) 969-0010
www.compassionatefriends.org
Next Meeting
July 2, 2013
7:00 pm
At
Crockett Room, Nessler Center
2100 5th Avenue N
Texas City, TX
Did you know?
Did you know that the Galveston County TCF has a Facebook
page? We do! Join us at The Compassionate Friends—
Galveston Co. Chapter on Facebook. This page is just another
way to connect with those like us. We can share our feelings in
a secure setting as our group is closed to the public. Hope to
see and hear from you soon on our Facebook page!
Special Thanks
TNT Signs
2212 Palmer Hwy
Texas City, TX 77590
(409) 945-7446
www.tntsigns.net
For printing the Newsletter
Manning Masonry Co, Inc.
For the placement of the bricks
In the Memorial Garden
Mission of the Compassionate Friends
1 intense pain and may feel hopeless and
When a child dies, at any age, the family suffers
isolated. The Compassionate Friends provides highly personal comfort, hope, and support
to every family experiencing the death of a son or a daughter, a brother or a sister, or a
grandchild, and helps others better assist the grieving family.
“Is this not our goal, to heal, to find strength to love both yesterday and
today? Our children have been the richest part of our lives and today
should reflect the grace of that love in all that we are today.”
—Don Hackett
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“I will let go for a time, release what I feel, and will be able to function better as a result of having
vented the feelings that are an ever-present burden.”
—Carol Staudacher
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Special Information
2013 Meeting Dates:
"If you haven't ever attended a TCF meeting give it a try. If you haven't been in
awhile, we'd love to see you again. We have many new ideas for topics and programs to go along with our new meeting location, day and time. Remember - the
meetings are now held THE FIRST TUESDAY OF EACH MONTH."
Hope to see you there.
Dana Rogers - Meeting Facilitator
To Our New Members
To Our Old Members
Coming to your first meeting is the hardest
thing to do. But, you have nothing to lose and
much to gain. Try not to judge your first
meeting as to whether or not TCF will work
for you. The second, third or fourth meeting
might bet he time you will find the right person—or just the right words spoken that will
help you in your grief work.
We need your encouragement and support.
You are the string that ties our group together
and the glue that makes it stick. Each meeting
we have new parents.
Think back—what would
it have been like for you if there had not been
any “oldies” to welcome you, share your grief
and encourage you? It was from them you
heard, “Your pain will not always be this bad;
it really does get softer.”
We’re looking for your submissions
So send them in by the 15th of the month
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Ian N. Franklin
7-15-85 10-22-2000
Happy Birthday, Ian!
I love you forever and
always! Mom
Barbara Marques
5
James Ruschenberg
7-27-45 10-3-2005
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A Solitary Journey
By Helen Steiner Rice
Grief is a solitary journey. No one but you knows
the gaping hole left in your life when someone you
know has died. And no one but you can mourn the
silence that was once filled with laughter and song. It
is the nature of love and of death to touch every person in a totally unique way. Comfort comes from
knowing that people have made the same journey.
And solace comes from understanding how others
have learned to sing again
.
Thank
A special thanks to
Clarinda Mapps
Sister of Raphael Mapps
Donation of Water for our
You
Mother’s Day Event
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A Familiar Face
My family was on vacation in 1985 traveling from Houston to the Black Hills of South
Dakota. We were traveling through Kansas and it was getting dark and late. I got our
of our car to check us into a motel. The woman waiting on my was obviously very tired.
When she saw me, she opened her eyes widely and just looked at me for a while. The
expression on her face was as if she saw someone who looked very familiar and very
close to her. I knew instinctively that I had reminded her of someone special. As I
started to fill out the forms, she began to cry. She was in too much pain to explain
herself to me. I reached over to hold her hand. The next morning when I came to
check out, she was making small talk but her eyes were remembering a face that looked
mine. As I told her good bye, she started to cry again.
Years later my thirteen-year old son, Ryan, died. Six months after his death, I was
shopping and saw a young boy who looked a lot like Ryan. I followed him from aisle to
aisle. I told this boy’s mom that my son had just died and her son looked so much like
mine. I pulled out pictures of Ryan and she agreed the boys did look a lot alike. Their
clothes were even similar. The mom told her son to give me a hug: “a real one with
both arms.” While I was hugging this young man, I asked god to please let Ryan’s spirit
move through his body so I could touch Ryan again. The hug felt like Ryan. I closed my
eyes and pretended it was Ryan. That hug felt like salve on my broken heart.
I wonder if God ever lets our children’s spirits come into some other person for just a
few seconds so we can feel some sort of relief? When that woman in Kansas was looking
at me like I was someone else, I did—for a few brief seconds feel like another person. I
hope the tearful woman felt it, too.
Niecy Moss—TCF, Houston-West
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After the First Year
After the first year; the pain changes from a crushing weight to a wickedly sharp cutting
edge. Time speeds up from a grinding plodding to a more normal routine. And
sometimes you can forget, for a moment that your whole life was destroyed last year.
After the first year; you start to remember the good times, and you can tell a funny story
about your child and save the crying for later. But sometimes it seems like you’re the
only one left who mourns. "What's the matter with you anyway; it's been a whole year."
After the first year; your child seems a little closer and yet still so far away. Miracle of
miracles, you haven’t forgotten how he walks, her voice, the shape of his head, or the
solid warmth of her finger curving around yours.
After the first year; your heart begins to thaw. You remember that you once loved your
surviving children and you love them again. You remember that life used to hold joy,
and you rediscover some small enjoyment in living. You learn to piece your life back
together in a different pattern.
After the first year; you pick up your burdens and go on. Amazingly, you've survived a
blow more painful than anything you ever imagined. Even though you wished you
could have died too, it slowly dawns on you that you must still live. Because after the
first year, comes the second year.
Liz Ford ~ TCF, Madison, WI
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With more than 10 years since I first started helping with the Galveston County
Chapter of the Compassionate Friends, and in those days it was mostly running
the copies each month. It has now been 5 years that I have been filling the role of
Newsletter Editor. Each month I am touched by the parents who entrust me
with laying out the pages for their children, taking extra care in making sure each
page is perfect.
Each month we welcome all submissions—for a birthday or an angel date or just
because. Submissions come in all sizes, and can include everything from 1 to 3
photos and a letter, a poem or just the picture and the child’s name and dates.
Please remember that while I work really hard to include the submission exactly
as I receive it sometimes that isn’t possible based on the program that is used to
set up the newsletter each month.
The following criteria will ensure that your submission is included in full:
 1 to 3 pictures
 Short poem, letter, note
 Name & Dates
 Any specific art (or I will add to the page to fill in)
 These pieces should be attached to the email as pieces, not as a single page.
These simple criteria will ease the editing process each month.
And if you aren’t sure at all what you’d like to have included, please don’t feel that
you shouldn’t ask to make a submission. All we need is your information & your
child’s information for a starting point.
Thank you & I look forward to seeing your submissions in the months to come.
Newsletter Editor
Galveston County Chapter
The Compassionate Friends
Send to either email your submission to sabalo130@comcast.net
Or mail to PO Box 568, Texas City, TX 77592
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