Lunch After Loss™

This is what you need to know about this Park Memorial event.

Loneliness while grieving the loss of a spouse can lead to depression, dementia, and lower life expectancy. The social shift that happens when one is left behind after the death of a spouse is debilitating. For our senior population, these points are even more intensively true. The impetus for this program was twofold: two of our funeral directors were serving widows in their time of loss, and both women expressed their grief and fear as they looked at their lives through the lens of their new normal. In the same time frame, we had a conversation with a gentleman approaching the one-year anniversary of the loss of his wife.

He identified that mealtimes are among the loneliest for him in his new normal. The need for grief support is societally more acknowledged and accepted for ‘younger’ populations. Because senior widows and widowers are in their ‘golden years’, and their spouse likely was as well, there is a misconception that there should be more acceptance of the loss and less grief. This is far from the truth. We see the need for connection, community, and grief support in the widowed families that we serve. And the need is increasing. We are hopeful that this program will meet some of these needs in our community. 

Schedules and Activities

January 2019 saw a new grief support program begin at Park Memorial to connect, serve, and support widows and widowers through the sharing of a meal followed by a facilitated grief discussion with a grief expert. Food is love. The sharing of a meal together builds and binds families, friends, and relationships. After the loss of a spouse, mealtimes become a painful reminder of the person missing from the table. These events will be offered quarterly.