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HealingAfterLoss.Org,
Inc.
Corporate Board
of Trustees
Voting
Members
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Debbie
Abbott ~ Chairman of the Board ~ New York
- I lost my beloved Phillip on 2/20/92 to a brain tumor.
When he died, I would go to bed each night and beg God
to take me too. When I'd wake each morning, I was angry
that He didn't answer my prayers. I remember the gut wrenching
pain, the confusion, the feeling of being so overwhelmed.
The keywords here are "I remember"...I don't FEEL that
way anymore. Time does heal, and we DO survive.
When new members come in and see my "intro" they see the
words "REALLY loving life again." It's true, it's possible,
though we all doubt it at first. I do what I do here because
I believe in this. Friends helping friends... simple as
that.
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Philip
Winter, Corporate Treasurer ~ New Jersey
- On December 22, 1998 when I arrived home at 12:45 am
I found my wife Michele had died in her sleep. Ten weeks
latter they finally said that she died from a sudden lethal
cardiac arrhythmia. Michele was only 41 and we had been
married for 4 ½ years. I became a widower at age 36; my
two son’s ages were 3 & 2 at the time.
Through the online forum I have found the love and support
from others who are going through the same things I am.
Although all of our stories are different, we are all
hurting and with each other’s help will be able to move
on in our lives. I had no idea how strong the bond was
that held a husband and wife together, how deep was the
depth of my love for Michele till I lost her and felt
the depth of the pain that it brought. She was my lover
and best friend. When I first lost Michele I was like
a ship without a rudder. With the help of my friends online
I have brought my life back on course. I have come to
the point where I have accepted that she is gone, but
I know that I will always miss her and as time goes on
the painful memories are fading, as the good memories
replace them.
I was online almost everyday for several years with the
founders of this site. I have traveled down this road
of grief going on eight years. I no longer need the constant
support that I needed back then to make day by day. I
am just thankful that I could find a site like HALO where
I could start to heal.
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Rosy
Crittendon ~ Corporate Secretary ~ Massachusetts
- In October of 2000 my 17 year old cousin was killed
in a drunk driving accident. We had a close bond and it
devastated me and all who knew her. I did a grief search
online and was led to some wonderful people who accepted
my grief and understood how I felt. Not quite five months
later in March 2001, my beloved father died suddenly but
not unexpectedly after a long battle with emphysema and
COPD. My life had turned upside down once again. Thankfully
my online angels were here to give me strength and help
me realize I wasn't alone. I want to thank them all and
wish to give back some of the love, understanding and
compassion that was given to me.
(((((((((((((((((((((((((All)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))
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Ex Officio (non-voting)
Charlene
Cutting, Chief Executive Officer ~ Oklahoma
- On Halloween, 1999, I awoke to find that my husband,
Ivan, had a heart attack or stroke as we had slept.
Though I had lost all of my Grandparents and a few Aunts
and Uncles before this time, I had never felt grief
so intensely. I felt all alone and lost. One evening,
as I was online working on some emails, I decided to
do a search to see if there wasn’t a place that could
help me with what I was feeling. I typed in the word
‘death’ and found a group of wonderful people that took
my hand and walked beside me. They taught me that it
was OK to smile and laugh again. Sure, there were many
days that this was impossible to do but there was always
a tomorrow to think of and with those thoughts, I was
able to start learning how to live my life. Unfortunately,
it wasn’t long till I was stumbling, falling down and
needed my friends to help me with a new branch of this
path. My Mother, was loosing her 8 year battle with
cancer. She joined her parents, several sisters and
my Ivan, 1-11-01. Thankfully, I had plenty of friends,
though I could not see their faces, to walk beside me
again. Another year passes and we received information
that my Dad had 2 types of cancer but because of his
age and other health issues there was nothing that could
be done. I remember Dad saying, “That’s ok, I’m ready
to go take your Mother dancing again.” With a summer
sky full of stars to light his way, my Dad joined my
Mom for a very special dance, 7-14-02. Again, I was
thankful for my online friends who were now becoming
more like family to me. Yet, my story doesn’t end. In
April 2004, my daughter calls to tell me I’m going to
be a Grandma. How excited I was, for this would not
only be my first grandchild, but it would be the first
of the next generation for my family. In May, she calls
me again, she is worried, something just didn’t seem
right. She went to her Dr. and was sent home again on
bed rest. She ended up miscarrying the baby. We cried
together and I was thankful that I had introduced her
to my online family.
I am part of HALO’s staff, manager of the Living Room
and a host because I do believe in what we have here.
We can learn to smile, laugh and enjoy OUR life again.
My story doesn’t end on a sad note either for I have
been blessed to meet a man who’s wife passed to cancer
and we started the next chapter to our lives by getting
married 7-16-04. This does not mean that we have forgotten
our spouses in Heaven and that we don’t still have our
moments of sadness over their passing, for we will always
have a special place in our hearts that holds a special
love for them and that‘s OK.
This path called grief isn’t an easy voyage to make
so I pray daily that all who come to HALO and those
that struggle on this path alone, may have just enough
winds to keep their sails going so they too can learn
to live their life again.
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