Page 8 - 2018 Spring Issue
P. 8

Join us in                                                                          My Airy Fay


                                            St. Louis, Missouri

                                                             for                                                                           by Aqua Carnahan
                        TCF’s 41  National Conference
                                             st


                                                   July 27-29, 2018


        A weekend spent surrounded by other bereaved parents, grandparents and siblings is a unique experience that only can be
        found at a TCF National Conference. It is a place where hope grows and friendships are made with others who truly understand.
        With inspirational keynote speakers, abundant workshops for everyone’s wants and needs, and a remembrance candle lighting
        program culminating with the annual Walk to Remember, this time of healing and hope is the gift we give ourselves. Join us as
        together we remember and share the everlasting love we have for our precious children, siblings and grandchildren.

            • Choose to attend over a hundred different workshops and sharing sessions, given by professionals and also individuals
            just like you.
            • Take advantage of “Healing Haven” to receive free personal services such as a massage.
            • Discover the special art project, “100 Siblings Remembered,” commissioned as a tribute to our lost siblings, created by
            Jessica Wilson.
            • Craft items to commemorate the love for your family member in the “Crafty Corner”.
            • Step away for a quiet moment of pause in the “Reflection Room”.
            • Explore the TCF Marketplace offering items for purchase that are meaningful to all on the grief journey together.           © andreiuc88 / stock.adobe.com
            • Reflect back on the conference by thumbing through your 2018 Keepsake Memorial Journal.
               Featuring Keynote Speakers

                                 Nisha Zenoff, Ph.D. LMFT is a                Basia Mosinski, MB MFA is the founder
                                 California licensed marriage and             and CEO of OneLife.Coach - Mind,                             Ah, there you go!                                  You were a star
                                 family counselor, psychotherapist,           Body, & Spiritual Alignment Coach. She                       And you are a rose.
                                 grief counselor, and dance/movement          is TCF Newport Beach Chapter founder                                                                            And the loss of you burns.
                                 therapist and bereaved mother of             and leader. Her stepson Logan died in                        A tiny little thing dancing on her toes.           But whether or not I will it, the world still turns.
                                 Victor Zenoff. She is the author of The      1993 in a head-on train collision; her
                                 Unspeakable Loss: How Do You Live            son Richard died in 2014 of a pulmonary                      Loose golden brown locks,
                                 After a Child Dies? published in 2017.       embolism on an airplane.                                     Crazy fly-away hair,                               I close my eyes
                                                                                                                                           Surrounding a face so delicate, fair.              And remember a girl
                                 Stéphane Gerson is a writer whose            Chris Lourenco was only nine-years-old                                                                          More precious than diamonds, lovely as a pearl.
                                 memoir Disaster Falls: A Family History      when his older brothers, Zachary 17 and
                                 (Crown, 2017) explores the death of          Alexander 14, were electrocuted during a                     Oh, there you are.                                 And there you are.
                                 his eight-year-old son Owen and its          sailboat ride that struck low lying power                    And you are a star,
                                 impact within his family. Gerson is also     lines. Chris attended his first TCF national                                                                    You are my star.
                                 a historian at NYU, where he directs         conference in Boston in 2005 and met                         With a presence like fireflies caught in a jar!    With a presence like fireflies caught in a jar.
                                 the Institute of French Studies.             other surviving siblings who could relate                    I cannot keep you.
                                                                              to what he was going through.
                                                                                                                                           I must set you free                                I could not keep you.
                                                                                                                                           But the joy of your life was a gift to me.         But I won’t set you free.
                                                                                                                                                                                              Because in my heart, you are always with me.
                Conference will be held at the                                                                                             Well, here I am.
                    Marriott St.
                    Louis Grand                                                                                                            And the dust has settled.                          Aqua’s daughter, Casey Rae, passed away in July 2007 at the age of
                  800 Washington Ave                                                                                                       The pain in my heart is an ugly nettle.            17 to a seizure. She relied on The Compassionate Friends,not only
                 St. Louis, Missouri 63101                                                                                                 There may be a hole                                for herself, but to direct concerned friends and family members to as
                  To make reservations
                     for the hotel,                                                                                                        That is shaped like you                            an online resource. She is the proud mother and grandmother of two
                   call 800-397-1282                                                                                                                                                          surviving daughters, a grandson and two granddaughters. She lives and
                                                                                                                                           And it hurts, and I miss you but...there is nothing I can do.
                                                                                                                                                                                              works in South Carolina but is originally from Michigan, where her
                                                                                                                                           Yes. Life goes on.                                 heart remains. She spends most of her free time reading and spending
              Register today online at compassionatefriends.org or by calling                                                              And the pain, it stays                             time with her partner of 12 years.
                       877.969.0010 to request a registration packet.                                                                      But I learn to deal with it better each day.

        8|We Need Not Walk Alone                                                                                                                                                                                            We Need Not Walk Alone|9
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