Three Years… Three Looong Years
This week was pretty epic in our Park Memorial world. After THREE LONG YEARS (including a pandemic you might recall)… we brought our beloved monthly Art for the Grieving Heart (AFTGH) event series back to our community.
Our President, Kirstie Smolyk opened the event by saying how the last three years feels like both the blink of an eye and a full decade all at once.
Familiar faces from our pre-Covid events came through the door ready to give and receive long-awaited hugs, and bubbling with gratitude to ‘be back’ while newcomers came shyly through the doors, unsure what to expect, but hopeful to discover a safe space to explore their grief.
Since beginning in January 2018, Art for the Grieving Heart has called ‘The Art of Cake’ home. Once again Owner Gloria and her team opened the doors of their perfect, warm little space to our group along with delicious treats and warm beverages.
Our craft activity was a brightly coloured spring front door wreath, with the focus being ‘welcoming what is on the other side of the door of grief’. We were honoured to have one of our funeral directors, Alexandra, lend her crafting talents and instruction to our event, opening with a beautiful explanation of our ‘why’ in welcoming whatever is on the other side of the door.
As hands crafted, there was a buzz of conversation as guests connected over a shared activity and shared experiences. There was laughter… shared empathy… and a few tears.
Our facilitated grief discussion was led by Patti Walker, a local grief support expert and also a bereaved mother herself. Many guests shared their experiences and thoughts of their grief journeys as the conversation wound through a range of topics. We learned that sometimes grief and anger feel very alike… that sometimes we need to exit certain individuals from our world of grief in order to make room for those who are willing to sit in grief with us… and that sometimes going for a walk needs to rather be going for a ‘stomp’ on those heavy grief days.
Guests crafted the most beautiful wreaths, adding their own personalization through their choice of colours, decorations, and words on their attached little signs…
Oh was it good to gather again! Guests left amidst more hugs, tears, laughter, and shared empathy with and for one another.
We are currently finalizing our dates for May and June, and warmly welcome you to consider joining us… we will take a summer hiatus for June and July and return once again in September.
We hope you will join us.
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