Summary of Article in Glenora Magazine Dec 2020
Written by Alaina Pascoe.
Rhonda “stumbled on JFS Edmonton when I was desperately looking for any kind of support in grieving Erik, I didn’t know what I wanted or needed, and at that point, my husband also admitted he needed help, and luckily we found the Edmonton Healing Centre for Grief and Loss at JFS Edmonton.” “it was difficult to find good help in managing grief, and initially I was worried because no one else in the group had lost a child, but that’s where [the facilitator] Anna navigated it well and I soon learned everyone has their own grief journey.” The second group that Rhonda attendee at JFS Edmonton “helped so much, and Anna did a wonderful job. The group [participants] still meet and support each other; a lot of us lost kids and became very close.”
“When it comes to suffering,” Rhonda says, “there is no more need to suffer in the dark and we need to feel it and speak it when it comes to grief, and that’s the biggest lesson,” she confesses. “I learned that I can’t tuck it away and not go through it.”
When surviving the impact of losing a child to a drug overdose she says each family member went through something different. Though she understands the unpredictable nature of grief and goes on to state, “each of us is going through our won journey with this and this has shaped all of my family members like it’s shaped me.”
Grief unexpectedly shaped Rhonda, already an experienced nurse, into a drug awareness advocate. She even joined an initiative called MomsStoptheHarm.com, “the experience of losing a child to an overdose, despite having consistent conversations about it is devastating,” she says, but Rhonda states that, “education can arm families to help those in need.”
Anna Jongeleen, who facilitated Rhonda’s grief groups, says she salutes Rhonda’s growth and work within the community, EHC was an important piece in her healing and becoming the healer she is today.” Anna says, “our grief groups are powerful stuff. People really take it in, change, and become powerful messengers and grief walkers.”