Monday evenings, Oct. 3, Nov. 7, and Dec. 5, 7-8:30 p.m.
No need to register. No need to be at all gatherings.

Please join us by Zoom when you can!

Phone:  929-205-6099
Meeting ID: 914 9770 6312
Passcode: 353446

This group will be a safe space to come be yourself on your journey.  We will be exploring Grief as a gift. And how the grace of gratitude can help us navigate all the feelings around grief. This group is for anyone experiencing loss or change of any kind.  For example, the loss of a partner, friend, pet, job, home or anything that leaves you feeling grief of letting go of something you loved. As we come together as a community of compassionate souls, we hope to allow our hearts to see the bigger picture and new stories that could lift us above the constraints of grief we sometimes feel. 

It would be most beneficial as a group and for individuals to make all three sessions and to sign up ahead of time. However, if something arises, please reach out to one of the facilitators so that we can work something out.

Your Facilitators:

I am Angela Rotella.  Who am I to co-facilitate a group on grief? Well, life decided it would make sure I was well prepared! You could say I was up for the challenge of losing many people I love, including my mother, because I am still standing. I am still daring to smile, appreciate everyday and love all beings to the fullest. Yes, that makes it possible for more grief. But that is how I have come to know grief as a gift. A gift that our loved ones leave behind – not as torture, but as a way to feel their love forever. I have worked with The Naked Voice school for three years and practice feeling my way through grief or any emotion through my unique sound. I now help others find their voices and explore with playfulness. I don’t know everything, so I would love to come together and learn more with you and hear your stories.

I am Jackie Oertel. When I interviewed for a social work position at Hospice in 2001, I told them I was drawn to it because of an interest in death and dying. They thought I’d fit right in, and I did – for seven years. Out of that experience came a class (entitled “Death, Dying and Bereavement”) that I taught in the Department of Human Services at SUNY Plattsburgh up until last year. I assured my reluctant students that no matter what age group they were working with or with what agency, they would be encountering this subject. In the past two years, I have lost my dear husband of 41 years and am so grateful to have been accompanied through this grief journey by others who are not afraid to look at this process as a gift. I am grateful for this opportunity to be together with others who are searching for grief as a gift — what can we learn from processing this with each other?

Questions? Jackie Oertel: oerteljs1@gmail.com or Angela Rotella angelarotella2@gmail.com