We have changed our regular meeting time and added a new meeting!

The group meets the 4th Thursday of each month at Grace and Peace Lutheran Church in Peoria.  We also have a parenting after loss group that meets the 2nd Tuesday of each month at Grace and Peace Lutheran Church in Peoria.

Please give us a call if you would like to attend or would like more information. Co Leaders: Pam Armstrong (309) 678. 4728 or Jessica Thompson (309) 370. 3657;
email address: PeoriaShare@yahoo.com

National Share Nov/December Newsletter

November Meeting:
Our November meeting we will be a Thanksgiving potluck. Since we can not bring food into the room at Schnucks we will be meeting in the front room of Grace and Peace Luthern Church on Knoxville Ave in Peoria. We are meeting Nov. 15th at 6:30pm. Please let us know how if you can come and what you are bringing ... and don't worry... if it feels too overwhelming to bring food that is ok too! : ) We will be talking about how to cope with the upcoming holidays...

Recommended Readings

General Books about Grief and Loss

1.      “Transcending Loss: Understanding the Lifelong Impact of Grief and How to Make It Meaningful.”  By Ashley Davis Prend, LCSW.

2.      “How To Go On Living When Someone You Love Dies.”  By Therese A. Rando, Ph.D.

3.      “Closure: The Rush to End Grief and What It Costs Us.”  By Nancy Berns.

Books on Grief and Loss Specific to Miscarriage, Stillbirth, Infant Loss, and death of a child

1.      “Healing A Parents Grieving Heart: 100 Practical Ideas after your child Dies.”  By Alan D. Wolfelt, Ph.D.

2.      “Empty Cradle, Broken Heart: Surviving the Death of Your Baby.”  By Deborah L. Davis, Ph.D.

3.      “Grieving the Child I Never Knew: A Devotional Companion for Comfort in the Loss of Your Unborn or Newly Born Child.”  By Kathe Wunnenberg.

4.      “I Never Held You: Miscarriage, Grief, Healing, and Recovery.”  By Ellen M. DuBois.

5.      “Empty Arms: Coping After Miscarriage, Stillbirth and Infant Death.”  By Sherokee Ilse.

Personal Stories and Accounts of Loss and Hope

1.      “Life Touches Life: A Mothers Story of Stillbirth and Healing.”  By Lorraine Ash.

2.      “An Exact Replica of A Figment of My Imagination.”  By Elizabeth McCracken.

3.      “They Were Still Born: Personal Stories about Stillbirth.”  Edited by Janel C. Atlas.

4.      “Miscarriage: Women Sharing from the Heart.”  By Marie Allen.

5.      “About What Was Lost: Twenty Writers on Miscarriage, Healing and Hope.”  Edited by Jessica Berger Gross

6.      “The Blue Poppy and the Mustard Seed: a Mother’s Story of Loss and Hope.”  By Kathleen Willis Morton.

7.      “I Will Carry You: The Sacred Dance of Grief and Joy.”  By Angie Smith.

Trying To Conceive and Pregnancy After a Loss

1.      “Tying Again: A Guide To Pregnancy After Miscarriage, Stillbirth and Infant Loss.”  By Ann Douglas and John R. Sussman.

2.      Pregnancy After a Loss: A Guide To Pregnancy After a Miscarriage, Stillbirth or Infant Loss.”  By Carol Cirulli Lanham.

Books for Children and Siblings

1.      “The Empty Place: A Child’s Guide Through Grief.”  By Roberta Temes.

2.      “Gentle Willow: A Story for Children About Dying.”  By Joyce C. Mills.

3.      “Tear Soup.”  By Pat Schwiebert.

4.      “Water Bugs and Dragonflies: Explaining Death To Young Children.”  By Doris Stickney.

5.      “Children Also Grieve: Talking About Death and Healing.”  By Linda Goldman.

6.      “No New Baby: For Siblings Who Have a Brother or Sister Who Die Before Birth.”  By Marilyn Gryte.

7.      “Something Happened: A Book For Children And Parents Who Have Experience Pregnancy Loss.”  By Cathy Lanford.

8.      “When Dinosaurs Die: A Guide For Understanding Death.”  By Lauie Krasney Brown and Marc Brown.

9.      “Healing A Child’s Grieving Heart: 100 Practical Ideas For Families, Friends, and Caregivers.”  And “Healing Your Grieving Heart For Kids: 100 Practical Ideas.”  By Alan Wolfelt, Ph.D.



Recommended Song List

Songs for Remembering/Honoring/Grieving:

Still – Gerrit Hofsink
Missing You – Amy Grant
Please Remember – LeAnn Rimes
You Can Close Your Eyes – James Taylor / Carole King
Can’t Cry Hard Enough – Sam Milby
Lullabye (Good Night, My Angel) – Billy Joel
Who Knows How Long I’ve Loved You – Alison Krauss
Borrowed Angels – Kristin Chenoweth
Awake – Josh Groban
Fly – Celine Dion
Lullabye – Josh Groban
I Will Carry You – Selah
Baby Mine – Bette Midler or Alison Krauss
To Where You Are – Josh Groban
He Lives In You – from The Lion King (broadway musical)
With Hope – Steven Curtis Chapman
Glory Baby – Watermark
Remembering You – Steven Curtis Chapman

Many Rivers to Cross – Annie Lennox
Homesick – MercyMe
Address In the Stars – Caitlin & Will
Save a Place for Me – Matthew West
Olivianna – JJ Heller
Precious Child – Karen Taylor-Good



Songs of Comfort:

In the Palm of Your Hand – Alison Krauss
Footprints in the Sand – Leona Lewis
Glory – Selah (featuring Nichole Nordeman)
Be Still My Soul – standard hymn (Selah version is beautiful, though)
Bring the Rain – MercyMe
Held – Natalie Grant
All My Praise – Selah
I Can Only Imagine – MercyMe
Hold Fast – MercyMe
Living Prayer – Alison Krauss

Hold Fast – MercyMe
A Living Prayer – Alison Krauss
Candle On the Water – From Pete’s Dragon (Helen Reddy)
Your Hands – JJ Heller
Jesus Will Meet You There – Steven Curtis Chapman
Better Than a Hallelujah – Amy Grant
Blessings – Laura Story
Strong Enough – Matthew West
The Reason For The World – Matthew West
Questions – Steven Curtis Chapman
Beauty Will Rise – Steven Curtis Chapman
Heaven Is The Face – Steven Curtis Chapman
Faithful – Steven Curtis Chapman
God Is It True (Trust Me) – Steven Curtis Chapman
I Will Trust You – Steven Curtis Chapman

Introduction

The mission of Greater Peoria Share is to provide emotional, physical, spiritual and social support to those whose lives are touched by the death of a baby through early pregnancy loss, stillbirth, or in the first few months of life.

The Greater Peoria Share group serves the greater Peoria/Bloomington Illinois area. The group meets the 3rd Thursday of each month in the community room at Schnucks on N. University in Peoria.

Please give us a call if you would like to attend or would like more information.  Co Leaders: Pam Armstrong (309) 678. 4728 or Jessica Thompson (309) 370. 3657;
email address: PeoriaShare@yahoo.com