Page 6 - 2017 Spring-Summer Issue

National Conferences:
Comforts Conferred

by. Peggi Johnson

© zuccheronero/fotolia.com

My cherished and fiercely loved son Jordan died by suicide in April of
2009 at the age of 19. In the minutes, hours, days and weeks that followed,
I struggled to figure out how to live with a heart that hurt so much I could
not comprehend why it still beat. It felt as though my entire existence had
been detonated.

A dear friend made me aware of The Compassionate Friends almost
immediately. As I trudged through time, I read TCF materials,
sporadically attended chapter meetings, met with a grief counselor, and
joined a suicide survivor support group. I was aware that a TCF National
Conference was offered that summer – the summer of 2009 - in Portland,
OR. Attending a conference at that point was unfathomable.

Events unfolded differently in 2010. For one thing, the conference was to
be held in Arlington, VA. Since I lived in Northern Virginia, this meant
that the conference was “local.” I would not have to travel. I would not
have to stay in a hotel.

6 |We Need Not Walk Alone