Parents who need baby-sitting
at our monthly meetings should contact Jessica prior to the last Suday
of the month for our 3rd Monday meetings. This way she can arrange for
the sitter. Contact Jessica at:
940-382-5478
COMING UP IN MARCH . . .
The Rev Mrs Marilyn Dickson, who
is both a bereaved parent and bereaved sibling. Recently retired from
her pastorship of a Christian Church in Richardson, TX, Marilyn continues
to hold grief workshops and seminars and occasionally to substitute
for absent pastors during Sunday worship services. She has often assisted
our chapter in the past, and was our Friday night speaker and workshop
presenter during the national 2001 BP/USA Gathering hosted by our chapter
in Dallas. Our chapter considers her a cherished resource who graciously
helps bereaved families to rebuild their lives.
Marilyn will discuss the twin
problems of anger and guilt and will touch on forgiveness.
From LIVING WHEN A LOVED ONE HAS
DIED by Rabbi Earl A. Grollman
Memories—tender, loving
bittersweet. They can never be taken from you. Nothing can detract from
the joy and beauty you and your loved one shared. Your love for the
person and his or her love for you cannot be altered by time or circumstance.
The memories are yours to keep. Yesterday has ended, though you store
it in the treasure house of the past.
And tomorrow! How can you face
its awesome problems and challenges? It is far beyond your mastery as
your ability to control yesterday. Journey one day at a time. Don’t
try to solve all the problems of your life at once. Each day’s
survival is a triumph.
LOVING LISTENERS
Your telephone links you to
a loving listener. Do you need to talk about your child's life and
death with someone who truly understands your anguish? Those listed
below have volunteered to listen and to try to help you. By allowing
others to help you, you also are helping others. If no one answers
at one number, please call another. Give us a call. It helps to talk!
Shirley & RD
Cawyer Y 940-668-7717 Yauto/train
accident
Beth Reynolds
Y 940-321-3302 Y
auto accident
Dale & Shannon
Johnson Y 940-591-8539
Ystillbirth
 |
Submit any poems
or stories that may remind you of your loved one or that helps you
through a trying period to Beth Reynolds at the mailing address
or e-mail address above and I will do my best to get it into the
newsletter. |
NEXT MEETINGS
17 MARCH
21 APRIL
Death is but a
moment –
Love is forever!
| LET US REMEMBER . .
|
| |
| March Birthdays |
|
|
| -
Joshua Allen Teddlie |
March
08, 1981 |
| - Brian
Keith Cogdell |
March
11, 1958 |
| - Merlin
Guy McGee |
March 15, 1984 |
| Son of
Merlin McGee
Brother of Beth Reynolds |
| -Robert
"Tory"Ortegren |
March
24, 1988 |
| Son of
Eva Hennicke & Robert Ortegren
Sister of Ariana Ortegren |
| - Terry
Hinely |
March
06, 1997 |
| Son
of Reg & Beverly Hinely |
| - Scott
Russell Voekler |
March
06, 2002 |
| Son of
Russell & Kathleen Voekler |
| - Shane
Booker |
March
10, 1994 |
Son of Jaronda &
Robert Crow |
| - Felecia
Fountain Shea |
March
11, 1998 |
| Daughter
of Johnnie Fountain |
| -Sandra
Richardson Dunn |
March
12, 1984 |
| Daughter
of Tom & Virgie Richardson |
| -Glen
D. Deaton |
March
13, 2002 |
| Son of
Murieli & Fleur Deaton |
| -John
Gallian |
March
21, 1998 |
| Son of
Virginia Gallian
Brother of Paige Mask |
| -
Wesley Robert Erwin |
March
29, 2002 |
|
Son of Benny & Toni
Erwin
|
PLEASE NOTE: The editors regret
any misspelled names, incorrect dates, or any names omitted. Please
contact Beth Reynolds with any corrections or additions at bethreyn@centurytel.net;
940-321-3302; fax 940-497-4790 or 8 Crest CT Hickory Creek TX 75065.
Send in Your Butterfly Stories...
Judy Hominick, presented a workshop
on butterfly gardening for the 2001 Gathering in Dallas. She reports
that, “I have been amazed to hear stories from people about encounters
with butterflies. The stories also show a comforting connection between
butterflies and the death of someone close. For instance, when a dozen
monarchs were released at a memorial service held for a young girl’s
mother who had died, all the butterflies flew off until one returned
to briefly perch on the shoulder of the young girl.
She asks that if you have had
a similar experience with a butterfly and a loss and would like to share
it for possible inclusion in a book which she is writing, she would
like you to contact her at:
Judy
Hominick
8619 Richardson Branch Trail
Dallas, TX 75243
web site: www.riverrunning.com
Email: hominick @swbell.net |
 |
CHAPTER OFFICERS
Moderator . . .Shannon Ratliff-Johnson
& Virginia Gallian
Secretary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
.Shirley Ottman
Membership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Tom
Richardson
Treasurer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . Bob Ottman
Newsletter Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Beth
Reynolds
Greeters. . . . . . . . . .Wanda Edington & Virgie Richardson
Supplies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . Louise Ferry
RECENT LOVE GIFTS
The BPNT Chapter has the following Donation Programs:
Monthly Newsletter
Postage
Newly Bereaved Letters
Library Book Fund
General Operations of the Chapter
Bereaved Parents of the USA
Your tax–deductible donation to BP is a good way to remember your
child or to honor another family member or friend. Please mail your
checks and the name or names of your memorial or honoree to Robert Ottman,
Treasurer, BPNT, 415 Mimosa DR, Denton, TX 76201. Love Gifts came from:
Lois Walters in memory of her
son,
Christopher Reed and her daughter,
Kimberly Jo Hanley
Our Credo
We are the parents whose children
have died. We are the grandparents who have buried grandchildren.
We are the siblings whose brothers and sisters no longer walk with
us through life. We come together as Bereaved Parents of the USA to
provide a haven where all bereaved families can meet and share our
long and arduous grief journeys. We attend monthly gatherings whenever
we can and for as long as we believe necessary. We share our fears,
confusion, anger, guilt, frustrations, emptiness and feelings of hopelessness
so that hope can be found anew. As we accept, support, comfort and
encourage each other, we demonstrate to each other that survival is
possible. Together we celebrate the lives of our children, share the
joys and triumphs as well as the love that will never fade. Together
we learn how little it matters where we live, what our color or our
affluence is or what faith we uphold as we confront the tragedies
of our children's deaths. Together, strengthened by the bonds we forge
at our gatherings, we offer what we have learned to each other and
to every more recently bereaved family. We are the Bereaved Parents
of the USA.
We welcome you.
Remember Me...
Remember me on quiet days
When raindrops whisper on your pane,
But in your memories have not grief,
Let just the joy we knew remain.
Remember me when evening stars
Look down on you with steadfast eyes;
And when your thoughts do turn to me,
Know that I would not have you cry;
But live for me and laugh for me –
When you are happy, so am I.
Remember an old joke
we shared;
Remember me when spring walks by;
Think of me when you’re glad,
And while you live, I shall not die.
––
Lyn Bryant, a sibling
TCF, Baytown, TX |
|
| |
This Newsletter
produced and distributed in loving memory of Rona Thompson by her
parents, Jerry and Beth Reynolds. |
Through the glass,
I touch your face,
I trace your beauty
with my fingertip.
I close my eyes and imagine
you sitting next to me.
Your head is gently resting
on my shoulder like it used to.
I feel your presence with me
and I am at peace.
If only for a few moments,
it feels like you’re back
where you belong.
Through the glass,
I touch your face and
I remember what you felt like.
–– Laurie Lizotte
Bangor, ME
Did It Really Matter?
Thinking back now of the times
When my children were small,
Their sweet little voices and happy songs.
Their cute little faces and slender bodies.
How precious they were,
But now one of them is gone.
And I think back with regret,
And I wonder why I spent
So much time fretting,
About the little, insignificant things
Did it really matter if the child spilled her drink,
Or got mud on her shoes, or messed up her room?
No, it didn’t really matter, and I know that now.
Now that it’s too late to go back and enjoy those times.
So let’s make the most of the precious time remaining,
With all our loved ones, without restraining,
Our affection and our feeling, and allow ourselves,
To enjoy that special warmth
That only they can give.
–– David Haddock
in loving memory of
his daughter Bonnie Haddock
That First Meeting
We get notes from people saying
“when I get the nerve I’ll come to a meeting”. I can
tell you , it took a lot to decide to go to our first meeting, but I’m
thankful we did go. I look back, I wonder if I would have survived without
the group. Like many, I didn’t talk at first. I couldn’t
talk and I wasn’t forced to talk. I just listened and learned
from those who had walked in the same type of shoes and at first crawled
just as I was.
I think the most important thing
I took from my first meeting was hope. Hope that I could survive this.
Hope that I could live again, even though at the time I didn’t
know if I wanted to live another minute.
The great thing about the group
is you get to hear from lots of people what worked and didn’t
work for them. You hear from bereaved parents, the true experts. Then
you take a little from each of them and fashion what you think might
work for you and then give it a try.
Why don’t you take a chance
and come this month?
––Jim Dixon, BP Springfield
Lovingly lifted from BP Springfield newsletter
"We bereaved are not alone.
We belong to the largest company in the world, the company of those
that have known suffering. When it seems that our sorrow is too great
to be borne, let us think of the great family of the heavy hearted into
which our grief has given us entrance and, inevitably, we will feel
about us their arms, their sympathy, their understanding.”
Helen Keller
From DON'T TAKE MY
GRIEF AWAY FROM ME
by Doug Manning
Grieving is as natural as crying
when you are hurt,
Sleeping when you are tired,
Eating when you are hungry
Or sneezing when your nose itches.
It’s nature’s way of healing a broken heart.
A cut finger&
is numb before it bleeds.
bleeds before it hurts,
hurts until it begins to heal,
forms a scab and itches until finally...The scab is gone and a small
scar is left where once there was a wound.
Grief is the deepest wound you
have ever had. Like a cut finger, it goes through stages and leaves
a scar.
To My Brother
Tears roll from my eyes
As I face the cold rain.
No words can be said
That will take away the pain.
You have that special something
That let me know you cared,
And I will be forever grateful
For all the times we shared.
As you walk through the fields high above
And come to rest in the shade of a tree,
Please, Brother, save a place for me.
––
Ethan Barker
TCF—Norman, OK
A fellowship for
bereaved parents
You need not walk
alone!
