TCF Saved my Life

When our daughter, Mandy, died in 2009 I just didn’t know how I was going to survive. I had trouble breathing. I could not sleep. I couldn’t cry. My husband, on the other hand, could sleep, and cried all of the time. Thankfully we found TCF. We attended two meetings each month. That was the only way we made it through the days, weeks, months, and years. TCF and the caring people who attended saved my life.

I found within a very short time that most people we knew didn’t want to hear about Mandy. That was a very difficult realization. I found myself waiting for the two Tuesday meetings each month just so I could make it through the month. My neighbor didn’t care, but the person next to me at the meeting did care.

After the fog of the first year passed I realized that without TCF I just wouldn’t make it. The meetings were the one time I could say what I needed to say, and believe it or not, people listened and cared. I found out I wasn’t alone……and started to feel better listening to others. The healing was starting.

The second year was like trying to swim in quick sand. I’d been warned that year two was going to be more difficult than the first year……but didn’t buy it. Well, it was. I could not believe how awful I felt, and people at TCF cared. They listened and held me up when I felt like I couldn’t make it one more step. At that point Bob and I knew we were forever indebted to those who helped us, and we needed to be there for those who would come after us.

I am so thankful that I can now show love and care for people who come to TCF broken and in pain. I cannot take their hurt away, but I can be there. That is what we can all say as we together reach out and hold the new people who are hurting and alone. This group has given me my life back, and I want to do the same for others. Although my life will never be the same without Mandy, it is again wonderful and full. What TCF has done for me, I want to be able to do for the new grieving parents and siblings who walk through the door. Hopefully one day they will say ” TCF saved my life !”

Mary