Background

After our loss of Matthew, we began meeting with Dr. Rick Singleton at the Health Sciences.  Rick is the Director of Pastoral Care and a recognized expert in the field of grief counselling. In addition to us, Rick was helping Terry & Bunny Greening who lost their daughter Kallie in a car accident on November 11, 2004 and Everett & Arlene Sturge who lost their son Tyler in a plane crash on December 5, 2004.

After several meetings with Rick, he suggested that all three couples meet in hopes of obtaining mutual support from one another since we all shared a common loss - the loss of a child.  Although all three couples were hesitant of meeting at first, we have since come to treasure the new friendships and support we have gained from each other.  We have also had Mary Steele join our group since she too lost a child - her son Danny, sixteen years ago.  Everett Sturge initially made contact with Mary through Compassionate Friends (an international support group for parents dealing with the loss of a child).  Mary has been an invaluable addition to our group since she has been involved with similar groups for several years and can help moderate and share within our meetings.

Shortly after we began our meetings, we were joined by Diane and Gerry Cadigan who lost their daughter Kristine in May to a pulmonary embolism. Kristine was a student of the School of Pharmacy at MUN. Jenny Rideout and her sister Phyllis also joined our biweekly meetings.  Gerry, Diane, Jenny & Phyllis have become our new friends and an important part of the group.

Towards the end of July, Danette Dooley of The Telegram interviewed Rod & Desma, Bunny & Terry, Everett & Arlene, & Mary about the support group.  Danette's story can be read by clicking here.  We would like to thank Danette for writing a very nice article that will hopefully let others know that our group is available for emotional and mutual support.