Grief Self Help

The Compassionate Friends is a national grief support organization offering friendship, understanding and hope to families who have experienced the death of a child.  The Dodgeville Area Chapter was formed in April 2009.  You can contact the TCF National Office at PO Box 3696, Oakbrook, IL 60522, toll free at 807.969.0010; www.compassionatefriends.org.  The Dodgeville Area Chapter meets the 3rd Tuesday of each month at 7:00 p.m. at Grace Lutheran Church in Dodgeville (by McDonalds).  Platteville Area Chapter meets 4th Tuesday of each month at 7:00 p.m. at the United Methodist Church, call Julie 608.348.4422.

Survivors of Suicide - 2nd and 4th Tuesday of each month at 7:00 p.m. at the Mental Health Center in Madison, 625 W. Washington Ave., Madison.

Bereaved Parents - specific to the loss of a baby...either during pregnancy or first year or life.  Meetings are the 3rd Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at St. Mary's Hospital, New Bay 5, Madison.

GreifNet - www.griefnet.org

Willow Green - www.centerforloss.com

Grief House - www.ourhouse-grief.org

Sharing the Grief Journey - 3rd Monday of every month at Grant Regional Health Center in the Monroe Conference Room at 6:00 p.m. - Sponsored by Grant County Health Department.  Contact Mareeta Klomen at 608.723.1620

Lessons in Grief (excerpt from Darcie Sims of Bereavement Magazine)

     Let go of Regrets:  Why do we spend so much time and grief over not saying goodbye?  Why do we wash away the words we did get to say over a lifetime of living with a single lament, "I didn't get to say goodbye?"  Surely your loved one knew you loved him or her.  Surely your loved one knew you cared.  Why let not saying goodbye rob you of the memories of what you did get to say and how you loved your lives together?  Why let not saying goodbye steal away the joy of knowing your loved on was in your life and sill is a thread in your fabric, to be woven forever around your heart?  We never know when an ordinary day will turn into a day that gets marked down in the family history as a not-so-ordinary day.  But all of us can live our lives so we can leave with few regrets.  Don't let the events of the past several months rob you of your hope, your passion and your joy in living.  Let it become a lesson for all of us to live our lives as if there were only moments left, because that is all there really is anyway.  Moments - just moments, one after another, each special and sacred in their own way, each waiting to be etched forever in our memories or lost in the sea of millions of other ordinary moments.  Take advantage of the moments we have and spend them wisely.  Spend them saying, "I love you," instead of wishing you had said goodbye.  (Courtesy of Grant County Hospice, 111 S. Jefferson, Lancaster)