What Grieving Mothers Want for Mother’s Day
By Renee
Wood
Over 80 percent of the nearly 100
respondents in a survey of mothers who are grieving answered, ‘recognize that I
am a mother’ to the question of how can someone help. In addition, nearly every mother surveyed
wanted their loss to be remembered with a card, a phone call, a gift or a
hug. Over half of the mothers surveyed
considered Mother’s Day to be their most difficult holiday.
In response to the heartfelt answers
given by the survey participants, the Comfort Company has issued a list of the
ten things grieving mothers want most for Mother’s Day:
1. Offer a hug. Send a simple Mother’s Day card to let them
know you remember that they are a mother even though their child is not with
them physically.
2. Acknowledge that they have had a loss. Express the message, I know this might be a
difficult day for you. I want you to
know that I am thinking about you today.”
Removing the wall of silence gives a grieving mother permission to talk
about her child.
3. Use their child’s name in conversation. Saying the name of a child who has died is
like music to a grieving mother’s ears.
One mother suggested, “Say his name and ask me my fondest memory of
him/her.”
4. Plant a living memorial. This is a wonderful day to plan a tree or
flower bulbs in memory of the child.
This is something that will live on as a beautiful reminder in the years
to come.
5. Visit the Gravesite. Many mothers feel that it was ‘extremely
thoughtful’ when others visited their child’s gravesite and left flowers or a
small pebble near the headstone.
6. Light a candle. Let the
mother know you will light a candle in memory of their child on Mother’s Day.
7. Share a Memory or Picture of the Child: Give the precious gift of a memory. One mother wrote that the ‘greatest gift you
can give is a heartfelt letter about my child and your most lovely moments with
them.’
8. Send a Gift of
Remembrance. Many mothers suggested
appropriate gifts of remembrance that would bring them comfort. These items included: an angel statue, a
piece of jewelry, a memory box, a memorial candle, a picture frame, a library
book donation, an ornament, anything personalized with the child’s name or a
date, a garden stone or a toy donation in the child’s name.
9. Don’t try to minimize their
loss. Avoid using any clichés that
attempt to explain the death of a child.
(God needed another angel.)
Secondly, don’t try to find anything positive about the loss (You still
have two healthy children. Or She’s in a
better place.)
10. Encourage self-care. Self-care is an important aspect of the
‘healing the mind and spirit effort’ according to several mothers. Encourage a grieving mother to take care of
herself. Give her a gift certificate to
a day spa or any place where she can be pampered.
Becky
Andrews, LPC, FT, 801.259.3883, becky.lpc@gmail.com
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