All of our lives are hit at different times with the pain of grief from a variety of causes, grief that we can experience on many different levels. It is important to acknowledge grief when it enters our lives, and to recognize and honor it for others when it arrives in their lives. Sometimes grief comes from a single event—an unexpected or even an anticipated loss—but it can also come in many other ways, including from situations that are on-going and that seem to have no end or solution. Finding meaning and community in each of these times helps to keep the grief in a degree of better balance. Of significant help throughout these times is having a supportive community, or also serving as a part of a community for others who are going through grief. Various stages of grief include: Shock; Denial; Anger; Bargaining; Depression; and Acceptance. Not everyone who grieves experiences all these stages, and these stages don't necessarily happen in any predictable order.

Starting on Sunday, April 7, Randolph professor and poet, Marjorie Ryerson, will conduct four sessions of a poetry-writing class on the topic of grief, classes that are open to anyone who wishes to participate. The classes will meet on April 7, April 14; April 28 and May 5, each time from 1:00-2:30 in the basement of Randolph's Unitarian Church ("Bethany") on Main Street, directly across from Chandler Center for the Arts. If participants wish, the class can continue to meet for a few additional sessions in May. In the classes, members will discuss grief journeys they have experienced or are currently on. They also will talk about the art of poetry and the shaping of idea and emotions into words. And in each class, they will write and will be free to share their poems with each other. When the class concludes, class members will decide whether they individually wish to participate in a public reading of some of the poems they have crafted.

Please bring writing instruments to each class—be it pen/pencil and paper, a laptop, or any other writing tools you prefer. If you are wish to attend this class, please let Marjorie know in advance (water05060@gmail.com) of your interest. But you also are welcome to simply add the classes to your life, once they begin. If you have questions about the class, please send them to Marjorie via that same email address. There is no cost to this class.