Brattleboro Area Hospice
Bereavement Program
191 Canal Street
Brattleboro, VT 05301
Return Service Requested
U.S. Postage Paid
Non-Profit Org.
BRATTLEBORO, VT
05301
PERMIT NO. 109
Seasons
Brattleboro Area Hospice Bereavement Newsletter
MARCH/APRIL 2017
802-257-0775 • 191 Canal Street, Brattleboro, Vermont • www.brattleborohospice.org
What’s Y our Hope?
Submissions to Seasons If you have a photo, an original poem, or a personal story that you would like to submit for
possible use in this newsletter, please send it to Connie Baxter at [email protected]
BRATTLEBORO AREA HOSPICE offers a range of bereavement services, including support groups, individual and family bereavement
support with hospice staff or trained volunteers, a lending library, the Hospice Memorial Garden at Living Memorial Park, and a variety
of community education events throughout the year. All of these services are free of charge and available to anyone in the community. For
more information please call (802) 257-0775, and speak with Connie Baxter, ext. 104 or Cicely Carroll, ext. 108.
Hospice Lending Library
The Lending Library at our 191 Canal Street office has a collection of over 650 books,
DVDs, video and audio tapes, on topics of Grief and Bereavement, Children, End of
Life, Spirituality, Memoirs, etc. Please stop in and visit the library anytime during our
office hours—Monday-Friday, 9:00-4:00.
Connie Baxter, Bereavement Care Coordinator
Cicely Carroll, Bereavement Care Counselor
Elizabeth Ungerleider, Youth Program Coordinator
SEASONS MAILING LIST
To add or remove a name, please call 802-257-0775
or email us at [email protected]
contact us • 802-257-0775 • [email protected] • www.brattleborohospice.org
SEASONS ~ 2017 MARCH/APRIL
Seasons 2-27723-2017.indd 1
Spring is coming, though it seems to take its time arriving
brighter and more tangible.
What is hope? The Merriam-Webster Dictionary gives us a
short definition: hope: desire with expectation of fulfillment.
Wikipedia’s definition is longer: Hope is an optimistic
attitude of mind that is based on an expectation of positive
outcomes related to events and circumstances in one's life or
the world at large. A poetic take on it comes in a famous
line of an Emily Dickinson poem: Hope is the thing with
feathers that perches in the soul and sings the tune without
the words and never stops at all. Maybe you have your own
idea of what hope means to you.
Another idea is this: right now, right where you’re sitting,
take a deep slow breath, close your eyes, and try to imagine
what you would hope for if you could hope. Stay with this
question, with your eyes closed, trying to keep your breath
slow and deep, until something, no matter how small or
insignificant comes to you, that you hope for. Then, for the
next few days, return to your image of hope and see if it
can become more real in your life.
here in Vermont. People usually associate spring with
renewal and hope, yet when someone close to you has died
it can be hard to imagine ever feeling hopeful again. Many
people find that hope is near the bottom of the list of their
emotional inventory, if it even makes the list.
It does no good when others tell you to be hopeful, or
when you try to force yourself into feeling hope. But most
people who are grieving and feeling hopeless find that at
some point in time as they move through grief, a glimmer
of hope appears. It might feel quite small and elusive, yet
recognizable as hope. Gradually, the glimmer becomes
If hope is eluding you as you grieve, here are a couple of
suggestions. James E. Miller, author of the small book
“One you love has died” (which many of you have received
from us), suggests that if you can’t find your own hope, ask
a trusted person to hold your hope for you, until you are
ready to hold it for yourself. This might seem like a strange
concept, but consider it.
Hope is one of those human experiences that gives
meaning to our lives. My wish for you is that you find your
hope as you grieve.
Best regards,
Connie
Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.
Desmond Tutu
2/27/17 9:48 AM
Grief Support Discussion, What’s Your Hope?
Thursday March 16th, 5:30-6:30 p.m.
Please join us at the hospice office, 191 Canal St. in
Brattleboro for a special time to gather with others who
are grieving to talk about your ideas and experiences of
feeling hope (or hopelessness) while grieving. Connie
Baxter will facilitate the meeting. We’d appreciate a call
Make a Memorial Flag!
At the Hospice Office, 191 Canal St. in Brattleboro
to 257-0775 ext. 104 to let us know you’re coming, but it’s
not necessary. If there’s any question of cancelation due to
bad weather call our number by 2 p.m. and press “4” for a
special message.
Tuesday April 11th, 4:00-6:00 pm
Looking Ahead to Summer Camps
Ca mp K nock K nock
June 2nd-4th, 2017 YMCA Camp Abnaki in North Hero, VT:
Camp Knock Knock is a weekend camp for families with
children who have experienced the death of a loved one.
It’s the only camp of its kind in Vermont, and participating
families find the weekend to be a very valuable experience
for everyone in the family. Families are accepted on a first
come basis and must meet two criteria: a loved one has died
and children are accompanied by a parent or guardian.
The fee is modest and scholarships are available. For more
information and to register call Ally Parker at (802) 8604499 x3405.
There are a few other grief support camps for children in the
New England region. If you’ d like help in finding the right
camp for your child, please give us a call at (802) 257-0775.
Bereavement Support Activities
Each year we create new memorial flags to hang at the
Hospice Memorial Garden. Everyone is welcome and
artistic talent is not required! This is a great opportunity
for children to participate in an activity to honor someone
who has died. Your flag can be as simple or as elaborate as
you want, and it will become part of the display that stays
up all year. Judy van Wageningen and Cicely Carroll will
facilitate. All materials will be provided. Since work space
is limited, please RSVP by April 4th if you’d like to come.
Call Joyce at 257-0775 ext. 105 and ask her to put your
name on the list.
Bereavement Support Groups offer a safe, mutually supportive environment for sharing experiences, insight and encouragement
through discussion, handouts, and suggestions for moving through the grieving journey. Groups are free of charge and meet at
our 191 Canal Street office, unless otherwise noted. Please call the person indicated in the specific group descriptions below
or email [email protected] to make a pre-group meeting appointment or for more information.
**New** Seven Week Support Group for Adults begins Monday March 27th, 5:00-6:30 p.m. and will continue on
Mondays through May 8th. This group is for adults who have experienced a death loss of any type. We’ll use a combination
of conversation, writing exercises, art materials, sharing mementos, etc. to explore grief and healing. Londa Holsinger is the
facilitator. Please contact Connie Baxter at 257-0775 ext. 104 to inquire about joining this group.
Save the Date!
Annual Me morial Planting Service
Please mark your calendar for our annual Memorial
Planting Service on Sunday June 4th at 4:00 pm at the
Hospice Memorial Garden, Living Memorial Park in
Brattleboro. Look for complete details about this event in
the May-June issue of Seasons.
Bereavement Writing Support Group, facilitated by Muriel Wolf, is currently full. If you’re interested in being on a wait
list to join this group, please contact Connie Baxter at 257-0775 ext. 104.
Good Grief Groups meet when 4 or more close-in-age children or teens express interest. Contact Elizabeth Ungerleider,
258-0763 or [email protected]; or call Connie Baxter at 257-0775 ext. 104 to learn more.
Support for People Experiencing Loss in Grafton: Brattleboro Area Hospice and the Grafton Public Library co-sponsor
an on-going support group on issues concerning loss, death and dying on the third Wednesday of each month from 5:307:00, led by BAH Bereavement Care Counselor Cicely Carroll. Upcoming dates are March 15th and April 19th. For more
information, please contact Michelle Dufort at the Grafton Public Library, (802) 843-2404, librarian@graftonpubliclibrary.
org or www.graftonpubliclibrary.org
THE FOLLOWING ONGOING GROUPS MEET YEAR-ROUND
Dates Shown Are For Current 2 Month Period
Hospice Foundation of America’s Annual Grief Teleconference
“When Grief is Complicated”
will be held Monday May 15th from 2:00-4:30 at the Brattleboro Retreat Education Conference Center. The
2017 program in HFA’s award-winning Living with Grief ®series is sponsored by Brattleboro Area Hospice and
available to anyone in the community who would like to attend. The program offers 2.5 hrs. of continuing
education credit for a wide range of professions. There is no fee to attend the program, but there is a modest
fee to obtain continuing education credit. Please contact Connie Baxter at (802) 257-0775 ext. 104 or email at
[email protected] to register or for more information.
Seasons 2-27723-2017.indd 2
Bereaved Parents Support Group meets the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of the month, from 4:45-6:15 pm. This group is for
parents who have lost a teenaged or young adult child. Judy Davidson is the facilitator. Dates for this period are March 7th
and 21st and April 4th and 18th. Please call Connie Baxter at 257-0775 ext. 104 to inquire about joining this group.
Spouse/Partner Loss Support Group meets the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of the month, from 5:00-6:30pm. Dates for
this period are March 8th and 22nd and April 12th and 26th. Cicely Carroll is the facilitator for this group. Please call
Cicely at 257-0775 ext. 108 to inquire about joining this group.
Individual and family support is also available with trained bereavement volunteers and staff. Please call Connie Baxter (802)
257-0775 ext. 104 or Cicely Carroll ext. 108 for more information, an appointment, or just a listening ear.
2/27/17 9:49 AM