Workshops Have Value
Before signing up for and attending, I knew grief, loss and transition workshops have value. I knew their value from more than an intellectual understanding. I had attended a twelve-week course on three different occasions.
- In 2006, my late wife and I attend the classes offered by our church following my mother-in-law’s death.
- Spring of 2015, I attended a second time after my mother’s death.
- The third time I attended followed my ninety year old father passing away. I took the course during the fall of 2017.
Attendance Helped Me Move Forward in Life
Each time I took part in the workshop, attendance helped me move forward in life.
Unique best describes taking the class three times.
While the curriculum followed the same structure, my experience with grief differed.
My wife died in April 2018. In September 2018 I saw a blurb in my church bulletin advertising the course. The workshop ran from early September to the week before Thanksgiving.
Help With Personal Losses and Challenges
I signed up for the class.
From experience, I knew the workshop would help me deal with my personal losses, as well as the challenges of both my current responsibilities and additional responsibilities I had inherited from my late wife.
The workshop also helped me as I transitioned to my new normal.
My adult children affirmed my attendance. They had seen how previous attendance had helped me.
Some of my friends were less supportive. Comments like you’ve been before and know how to get through this were common. Other felt I was wasting my time.
I’ll write more about the workshop in a future blog post.
The Survival Blog for Widowers 