To the editor:
We all celebrate a new life and we both celebrate and grieve the loss of a life. As a licensed mental health clinician, I have sat with my clients as they grieve and process the loss of a loved one. I have sat in my own grief and processed that.
One of my early instructors advised me very clearly that we must be thoughtful and clear in how we respond to or communicate to someone who has or is suffering a loss.
What we do, what we say and how we behave becomes part of that families narrative about their loss.
I live in Francestown and moved here primarily for its size and small community. I have been so saddened by past and recent actions taken by our Cemetery Commission against the Wohle family and how they have chosen to celebrate and grieve their son Cole.
I do not doubt that there are set hours for the cemetery, but where is our flexibility and compassion if any of us feel a need to visit our loved one outside of regular hours?
Most recently, a member of the commission did not like the recent decor on the grave and took it upon herself to remove it. That for me is so far past good judgement and glaringly shows no thought to how that family would feel upon discovering the vandalizing of their gravesite. I hope the Commission can find some empathy.
I hope that none of us moving forward have to contend with this behavior in our times of loss.
Pamela Graesser
Francestown