Grief Counselor Shows Support Group How to Process Loss of Mothers
Mother’s Day is a time to celebrate your mom, but for those who have lost their mothers, it triggers feelings of grief.
ABC 31 News Reporter Keisha Swafford has the story on how a grief counselor deals with the loss of her mother.
Grief Counselor Cindy Avery says this will be the first time without her mother on Mother’s Day.
“I still want to pick up the phone and call and tell my mom things and remember she’s not there for me to call.”
Avery says her mother was a strong believer in family.
“She loved family a lot, there are five of us siblings, and she was married to my dad for almost 64 years, so family was important to her.”
She leads and participates in Grief Share to deal with her loss.
“Just sharing your grief with other people and not avoiding it, to own it, to admit it, to cry if you need to, but not everyone is a crier so it’s okay if you just want to talk about them.”
News Reporter Keisha Swafford says, “Mrs. Cindy is going to teach us about the broken pot strategy that she uses with her grief loss group and she’s going to explain to me how they use it to help them through their grief.”
Cindy Avery says, “Okay, so just like we are broken in our grief, we take a plain clay pot and put it in a little bag, so pieces don’t go everywhere and then we just crack it.”
Calvary Church offers Grief Share, a 13-week video-based support group.
“We send these pots home with our participants and ask them to put their pots back together and create something new.”
News Reporter Keisha Swafford says, “I lost my grandmother on April 4th of this year, and it was really hard for my family so with this broken part strategy. I think it’s really cool; you know because you have to put your life back together when it’s broken.”
Avery says, “The depth of your grief reflects the depth of your love for the person you lost and for me personally, that helps me to feel good about the way I love my mom and that’s why my grief is what it is.”
She says learning about grief allows her to process death.
“I always gave my mother fresh flowers on Mother’s Day, so I’m going to put fresh flowers on her grave. “
She says Mother’s Day will be easier with her support group.
The Grief Share group meets three times a year at Calvary Baptist Church.
