Bereaved share in healing and remembrance
Those bereaved by suicide gathered at Territorial Headquarters for a healing and remembrance service. (Photo by Dean Golja)
Those bereaved by suicide took part in a powerful healing and remembrance service at Territorial Headquarters in Sydney last Friday.
The service hosted by ABC broadcaster John Cleary included a special candle ceremony and a display of handmade memorial quilts. It was followed by presentations on how children are affected by suicide and on mental health in remote communities.
Territorial Commander Commissioner James Condon opened the remembrance service, offering words of comfort for those present and sharing his own experience with suicide.
“The pain of losing a loved one to suicide is difficult to express and it never goes away. It never quite leaves you,” said Commissioner Condon.
“But today, I hope our time together will be a help and will bring its own comfort as we share together in this way.”
Two NSW Lifekeeper Memory Quilts were on display at the ceremony, showing the faces of those who had taken their life.
Envoy Alan Staines, who helped start The Salvation Army’s suicide prevention and bereavement support program, Hope for Life, said the quilts were a strong memorial for those who had lost loved ones to suicide.
“The Lifekeeper Memory Quilts are tremendously powerful and therapeutic for the families that have honoured their loved ones on these quilts. These quilts show that those lost to suicide are so much than just a statistic, a number, or a file in a coroners office, but real people with real lives behind those beautiful faces. They are forever stamped on the hearts, minds and souls of those who love them.”
Virginia Petherbridge and Diane Gaddin, two mothers bereaved by suicide, shared during the ceremony about their individual losses.
“At the time my son passed away, I could not say the words ‘suicide’ or ‘funeral’. It was that my son had taken his own life and we were having a celebration of life for him,” said Ms Petherbridge.
The service included a special candle ceremony, with four candles lit to represent grief, courage, memory and love. Loved ones then came forward to light a candle in memory of those they had lost, taking a rose as a symbol of remembrance.
Following a light lunch, there was a presentation by Dr Diana Sands, Director of the Bereaved by Suicide Service, which included a showing of the DVD ‘Red Chocolate Elephants’, designed for children bereaved by suicide. The resource looks at the experience of dealing with suicide from a child’s perspective.
There was also an opportunity for the audience to ask questions in an open forum with Dr Sands and Dr Noritta Morseu-Diop, PhD. Dr Morseu-Diop is a
researcher and academic specialising in forensic mental health and suicide in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
If you are bereaved by suicide, or know someone who is bereaved by suicide and need assistance, you can contact Salvos Care Line on 1300 36 36 22 or visit suicideprevention.salvos.org.au
Envoy Alan Staines, who helped to start The Salvation Army’s Hope for Life, at the healing and remembrance service. (Photo by Dean Golja)
Dr Diana Sands and Dr Noritta Morseu-Diop, PhD at the open forum. (Photo by Dean Golja)
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