New Year's Wishes For Bereaved Parents

To the newly bereaved:  We wish you patience - patience with yourselves in the painful weeks, months, even years ahead.

To the bereaved sibling:  We wish you and your parents a new understanding of each other's needs and the beginnings of good communication.

To those who are single parents:  We wish you the inner resources we know you will need to cope, often alone with your loss.

To those experiencing marital difficulties after the death of your child, we wish you a special willingness and ability to communicate with each other.

To those who have suffered the death of more than one child:  We wish you the endurance you will need to fight your way back to a meaningful life once again.

To those of you who have experienced the death of an only child or of all your children:  We offer you our eternal gratitude for serving as such an inspiration to the rest of us.

To those of you who are plagued with guilt:  We wish you the reassurances that you did the very best you could under the circumstances, and that your child knew that.

To those of you who are deeply depressed:  We wish you the first steps out of the "Valley of the Shadow."
To all fathers and those of you unable to cry:  We wish you healing tears and the ability to express your grief.

To those of you who are exhausted from grieving:  We wish you the strength to face just one more hour, just one more day.

To all others with special needs that we have not mentioned:  We wish you the understanding you need and the assurance that you are loved.

--From a speech by Former TCF President, Joe Rousseau.  Taken from the Jan. 1999, TCF Houston-West chapter newsletter

back to "Helpful Sites & Resources"