When a parent loses a child, one of the biggest hurdles to overcome is the notion that enjoying life, or even smiling, somehow dishonors the lost child.
A year-old program called Cry For MeNo More was created to help bereaved parents overcome that idea and to help them deal with the loss and move forward.
“Getting them to believe that they can and will be happy and that their child would want that is what we do,” says Cry For Me president and co-founder Teresita Fawcett. “Getting them to look at it that it’s OK to have a life and be happy and it is not dishonoring their child is the biggest thing.”
Deana Martin-Owens, co-founder of the nonprofit new program, says there are numerous support groups and programs for children who’ve lost a parent, but far fewer for parents who’ve lost children.
Fawcett and Martin-Owens are both grief recovery specialists certified by the Grief Recovery Institute Educational Foundation (GRIEF) in California; Fawcett also has a master’s in public policy and Martin-Owens has a degree in health care management.