Know Someone Grieving During the Holidays? This Simple Step Can Help
Grand View-on-Hudson, NY (PRWEB) December 16, 2013 -- The founders of AfterTalk.com have launched a campaign to encourage people to reach out to family and friends who have experienced a tragic loss during the past year and to make sure they are included in holiday plans.
AfterTalk.com is a resource site offering online grief support for people who are grieving by offering them free, interactive tools to assist them in the healing process.
“The first year after the death of a loved one is filled with the most painful reminders, whether they are holidays or anniversaries or birthdays,” says AfterTalk co-founder Lisa Bogatin. “Subsequent years are progressively easier, but during that first year, each milestone is torture. Letting the grieving know you're always there for them is a great gift.”
AfterTalk.com offers a unique approach to the grieving process, as it allows visitors to engage in a “Private Conversation” with their deceased loved ones via a secure, private area on the site. In addition to private letters, participants are encouraged to invite their family and friends to either share in the conversation or to write collectively. “Journaling and writing letters to deceased loved ones is a well-established therapeutic modality,” asserts Ms. Bogatin.
Larry Lynn, AfterTalk co-founder, speaks from personal experience in his grief blog about managing the loss of loved ones. “My young wife died six days before Thanksgiving. Her birthday and our wedding anniversary are both in January. Those were the most emotionally grueling two months of my grieving. I was fortunate that family and friends stepped up and made sure I was occupied on each of those days. Too often, family and friends either don’t think about it, or are timid about asking someone in mourning to participate in a festive occasion.”
It’s a simple idea. If you know anyone who is going through that first-year grief cycle without their loved one—a parent, spouse, child, or significant other—include them in your holiday plans. If they demur, persist. “Going to a New Year’s Eve party 40 days after my wife’s death seemed unthinkable to me then," says Larry Lynn, "but my cousin insisted, and it was the best thing I could have done. It put me back in touch with myself as a part of something larger.”
About AfterTalk
AfterTalk.com was created to help people through one of life’s most difficult times with comfort, solace, and support. AfterTalk gives those who are dealing with grief the opportunity to continue to express their thoughts and feelings, their joys and frustrations, to a deceased spouse, parent, sibling, child, relative, or friend in complete, secure privacy. AfterTalk also invites them into a community of people who have suffered a profound loss and want to share ideas and experiences with others. AfterTalk is non-denominational and available free to all.
Lisa Bogatin, AfterTalk, http://www.aftertalk.com, +1 (781) 361-9440, [email protected]
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