Healing the Wounds of Grief

she says, “Any grief is painful to the person. I’m not into trumping one loss over another.” She adds sadly, “They all hurt.”

Anne Heros knows grief. It took up residence in her heart on a bleak March day in 1992 with the sudden and heartbreaking loss of her 10-year-old daughter. The cruel hand of fate had ripped a gaping hole in the fabric of a loving family.

As if the heavy burden of her own grief was not enough, she bore the added challenge of two young sons dealing with their own grief. Anne was too overwhelmed to cope alone. Thankfully, she and her family found solace and healing at the Center for Grieving Children. The center welcomed the stricken family with open arms and loving support.

At the time, Anne had no idea that this was only the be-

17 ginning of her long affiliation with the center. While her journey began with a plea for help, it would lead to her current position as executive director of this special place that healed her. Heros exudes a quiet strength as she relates her grueling path through grief. “There is no explanation for death,” she says in a soft voice of acceptance. While she is aware that the loss of a child is often considered the most tragic, she is adamant when

The Center for Grieving Children, with a location in Portland and another in Sanford serving all of York County, was founded in 1987 by Portland resident Bill Hemmens. In his quest to find help for his niece in the wake of her mother’s death, he realized the great need for peer and adult support for grieving children.

Despite its moniker, the center is not solely for children. The organization provides support for children, teens, adults, families, and communities.

According to Anne Heros, the center was always a family model. “The reason it was a family model from the very beginning, and was before its time, was not to work in isolation with one family member, but to work with the whole family.” She goes on to say, “The support was really there for the children when the adults were also on board. There was change happening across all of them.”

This approach was instrumental in her own healing process and that of her young sons, ages 11 and 8 at the time of their sister’s tragic death. The boys participated in peer support groups for the first two years, and then the whole family joined. The experience would so affect Anne that she was compelled to return to the center as a volunteer. This led to a staff position, and finally, in 2001, the executive directorship. “It gave me a strong impetus to be your health

See GRIEF on page 16 . . .

Become a Host Family

YORK COUNTYASSE International Student Exchange Programs (ASSE), in cooperation with local community high schools, is looking for local families to host boys and girls ages 15 through 18 for the next academic year. Students from all over the world – places like Germany, Spain, Italy, Japan, and Ukraine, to name a few – are excited to study in the US. Loving and caring host families are the cornerstone of ASSE’s program and vital to its mission of bridging the gap between people, cultures, and nations. According to the organization, “during this time of social distancing, we need to look forward to and celebrate opportunities to bring humanity back together. By generously opening your home to a young person from overseas, you and your family help us continue our global commitment to increasing international peace, understanding, and unity.”

Preparations are well underway for the 2023–2024

See HOST on page 3 . . .

Do you know Jesus? Come nd out Sunday!

10am Sermon, Eucharist, Music

Kid’s Bible activity bags available!

Preacher & Celebrant for July:

The Rev. Todd R. FitzGerald St. John’s Episcopal, West Hartford, CT

St. Peter’s Choir at 10am

Organist & Music Director: Harold Stover

Eucharistic Minister: Ann Brzys

Layreaders: Linda Seager & Ann Brzys

Volunteers Needed for Spruce Creek

KITTERYThe Spruce Creek Watershed-Based Management Plan (WBMP) was created by the Town of Kittery and FB Environmental (FBE), a Portland-based environmental consulting firm, in 2008. As a result of this plan, more than 60 best-management practices have been implemented in the Spruce Creek watershed, effectively reducing the number of bacteria that enters the water, according to the town.

Despite the success of the original plan, a second water quality challenge has emerged in recent years that has threatened to reverse the restorative trend in the watershed: macroalgae. Large macroalgae blooms have become a recurring problem in the creek each summer, limiting the recreational use of the waterbody and degrading the aquatic habitat for living organisms.

To address these sources, Kittery has begun a project updating the Spruce Creek WBMP to focus on nitrogen pollution in addition to bacteria. As part of this effort, the town is looking for volunteers interested in documenting watershed conditions throughout Spruce Creek. The volunteer event will take place on August 8, starting 9 a.m. Volunteers are asked to meet at the Kittery Public Works

Office parking lot, located at 200 Rogers Road.

For more information, visit www.kitteryme.gov/ SpruceCreekPlanUpdate.

Cape Porpoise Ship’s Cargo Fair

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The annual Church on the Cape (COTC) Ship’s Cargo Fair began in the 1950s and continues to be a quintessential, smalltown Americana experience. For many who have attended over the years, warm memories of the event are steeped in their minds and hearts. Tom Bradbury recalled some of his early memories of the fair in his book “Our Harbor Home”:

“The annual (COTC) church fairs were also held at the Atlantic Hall, and the ladies of the congregation went to great lengths to make the place look festive. The walls were covered with quilts, Afghans, baby blankets or other crafts that had been lovingly made for the benefit of the church’s budget. Tables filled the upstairs, some covered with pies, cakes, homemade preserves and cookies, items whose ingredients had been bought, brought home, mixed, beaten, baked, and delivered before being sold for pennies on the dollar. No one seemed to care. What you paid for your contribution was made up for with what you bought from someone else.

“Other tables were crowded with yard-sale-type goods, items chosen because their owners couldn’t stand looking at them anymore or were tired of dusting them. The concept was that putting them in this new environment would somehow make them look more desirable. . . . There were also those things that you could only find at a church fair, like a hand-knit pink toilet paper cover made in the shape of a rabbit. One wouldn’t think there would be a big market

PAVING & SEALCOATING

RECYCLED ASPHALT DRIVEWAYS • PRIVATE ROADS RESIDENTIAL DRIVEWAYS • COMMERCIAL PARKING LOTS for such a thing, but they sold, prompting the maker to come back with multiple colored knit toilet paper holders in the future.”

Specializing in asphalt paving and repairs, driveway and parking lot asphalt, sealcoating, patching, rubber crack-filling and linestriping.

This year’s Ship’s Cargo Fair will take place August 5, from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., inside the church. In addition to baked goods and homemade canned goods, there will be crafts, household items, linens, jewelry, small furniture pieces, accessories, art, toys, vintage items, books, clothing for all ages, sizes, and style preferences, and more.

For more information, call 207-967-5787 or visit www. churchonthecape.org.

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KENNEBUNK -

On Saturday, August 5, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., the Planeteers of Southern Maine, in collaboration with Helpsy, will host a clothing drive. Collections will take place at Quest Fitness, located at 2 Livewell Drive, Kennebunk, in the back parking area and will raise funds for the Planeteers. To contribute while also doing something positive for the environment, drop off a bag of used clothing or textiles.

The Planeteers of Southern Maine is a grassroots effort dedicated to creating a sustainable future for the planet and, more

. . . HOST from page 2 program year and the arrival of the new future leaders this fall. ASSE students come with an enthusiasm to practice their English and experience American culture – food, sports, shopping, and more. They also love to share their own culture with their host families, who welcome them not as guests, but as family members, giving both the students and families a rich cultural experience. In addition, visiting students have pocket money for personal expenses, along with health, accident, and liability insurance.

ASSE International,