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GROWW E-Mail
Newsletter |
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Volume 1, Number 1 |
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Editor Pat Sirni GROWW Officers · Anne
D’Ambrosio, Executive Director · Ted A.
Modjeski Jr. Deputy Director GROWW Staff · Libby
Morningstar, Director of Branches · Pat Sirni,
Grief Recovery Room Manager · Rachel Frank,
Message Board Manager · Phil
D’Ambrosio, Director of Security |
Message from
the Executive Director Anne D’Ambrosio In Memoriam of
JimK4 I first met Jim and Judy in CT in August of 1998. It seems appropriate to share some memories
of them now, since they have both moved on to meet all of our loved
ones. Jim was one of my best friends
in the past couple of years since Judy died.
He used to come and visit us on his way up or back from NJ to visit
his kids. He has no idea how much so
many of us will miss them. They were
one of the first 2 people I met when I found GROWW in March of 1998. They were always in a room, Judy could be
found in GR almost any time night and day, we were never quite sure when or
if she ever slept. Jim was always
working in the background or in GFW.
When they were both in GFW you could feel the love and caring for
everyone. One of our favorite things
to do was pick on Judy’s cooking and it was so easy to do, she had a great
sense of humor about it. We had so
many fun times in there back then, but as soon as a “newbie” came in we got
serious, Judy always had the right words and Jim always gave them a nickname
after a few visits with us. They both
made everyone feel so welcomed, some of us never left. Jim made everyone feel special. At gatherings Judy was the quiet one who
always had a smile and hug for everyone.
Jim was the friendly, outgoing one who was almost always a new widows
first dance partner. Jim loved to
dance and have a good time and Judy loved watching him make all the widows
feel special again. Jim had been sober
for a long time by then and we always made sure he had at least 1 pitcher of
water on the table just for him, he needed it. Once he took Cat’s kids to the movies so
she could enjoy a dinner without being a mom.
He would give them change to go to the video arcade. After Judy died, we wondered if Jim would
go back to NJ to be close to his family, but he had gotten used to the life
and weather in FL, so he stayed, he devoted himself to GROWW 24 hours a day 7
days a week with an occasional break to sneak in a round of golf that he got
for free of course. He tried to make
it to every possible gathering to meet and greet people. If you met Jim, you loved him, that’s just
the way he was. Phil lost one of his
best pals when Jim died, they were the GROWW comedy team, they picked on each
other every single day right up until Jim died. They talked on the phone and Phil called
him Shamus and Jim called Phil one of his many names he had for him, most
were not used in public though LOL. We
will miss out best pal Jim, but we know he is in a better place with his Liz
and Judy and all of our loved ones.
I’ll bet they’re still listening to his stories about us and they’re
saying NO WAY he/she would NEVER do that!
We have GROWWn and I for one will miss him more than he will ever
know. I know Jim and Judy are watching
down on us and sitting on our shoulders helping to guide us to keep GROWW a
safe, wonderful site that they created. WE LOVE YOU NOW AND ALWAYS (((((((((((((( JIM & JUDY
)))))))))))))))))) Meet Your
Host GFWHostLimeyAngel Message from the Director of
Branches Libby Morningstar Welcome to GROWW. In this feature of
our newsletter, I will try and keep you informed on any and all changes,
updates, newsworthy stories that arise within our different branches at
GROWW. We recently reviewed all our chatroom schedules and updated
where necessary. We believe at GROWW what is foremost apparent is
that our chatrooms are filled with love and understanding. We've never
professed to be professionals, but we do profess to be a friend who has known
death and can relate to the struggles you face in your everyday life.
It is with this in mind, that I would like to start my first article talking
about "Grief Recovery" (GR). While all our specialty
chatrooms are important, they are restricted by hours of use. GR
however is the chatroom that is open 24/7, yes 24 hours a day 7 days a
week. In GR you will see that all grief is accepted and
discussed. It is the first chatroom many find when first coming to
GROWW. Sometimes you become so comfortable there that you find no need
to visit any other chatroom and then there are times when GR acts as a
compliment to those times when your specialty chatroom is not open.
As you have or are traveling through your grief, you are all too
familiar with the wee hours of the early morning when sleep just will not
happen. PLEASE know you have a place....... Sometimes you may
just want to sit, so pull up a chair and visit. Other times your heart
is so full of anger, joy, sadness, happiness, and the list could go on and on
that you just need a friendly ear to listen. We hear it echoed so
often that others who have not experienced the death of a loved one cannot relate
to our grief. At GROWW we hear you, we listen, and we try to give some
comfort in what you are experiencing. Through our own life experiences,
we can share what works for us and what doesn't work. We try very hard
to offer hope for the future. Early in grief it is so very hard to hear
that with TIME things can get better, but they can...............SO in those
times when you can't quite see that, come lean on GROWW. We will be
here for you with that friendly ear to listen...I promise. Libby |
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GROWW, INC.© Judy Divers 501(c)(3) Non-Profit EIN: 59-3445877 |
Guest Columnist – Mary Rose Are we not all blessed to have such a wonderful place as
GROWW to help us through this most difficult path of Grief we have all been
set upon? It is wonderful to have a safe place to go – somewhere
that there are those who do indeed understand the intense pain we face when
we loose someone we love to death.
Comfort lies within in the walls of GROWW as others there assure us
that we are not loosing our minds, but merely experiencing Grief. Many times through Grief, we experience changes in our
emotional or physical selves. Whilst
many things we experience, such as insomnia or depression are normal
occurrences for a brief amount of time, everyone should seek the
advise of their own medical professionals for these subjects. After all, Your Health IS your own
responsibility. The main purpose of our rooms is to focus on GRIEF
RECOVERY, just as our name reads, GRIEF RECOVERY (founded by) WIDOWS AND
WIDOWERS. Whilst our goal is to assist
all through the grief process, we are not professionals, but merely other
grieving souls who have been on this path of Grief Recovery for some
time. No one, whether Staff, Host or
Member is qualified to diagnose a mental/physical problem or disease;
therefore, we would ask our members to refrain from constant discussion on
such issues and allow our rooms to focus on the issue at hand, Grief
Recovery. Furthermore, the talk of medications is a subject that need not be
discussed in our rooms as well. If you are in need of sites to obtain support for a
specific illness you can do an Internet search to find such sites. That being said, we at GROWW will
continually advise all who are experiencing mental and physical difficulties
to seek advise of their medical professional and deter that conversation from
overtaking the room. Your Health IS
Your Own Responsibility. Again, we ask that our members please help us in
maintaining the focus of our rooms to Grief Recovery. After all, that is our purpose here – to
walk this road of Grief together and help each other through those most
difficult moments. May you all find Peace and Comfort within the Walls of
GROWW, and may you know that the Staff and Hosts will do all that we can to
maintain that safety. With Love, GRHostMaryRose SOSHostMaryRose Featured Webpage Our featured webpage this
month is our site map. The site map is
located at http://www.groww.org/sitemap.htm The page is laid out in an outline
form. All of the branches have their
associated pages such as, message boards, chatrooms, etc. listed in the same
grouping. This page is very helpful in
navigating the site. I have this page
set as my home page when I log onto the internet. I can access the pages I need quickly. I hope you will take some time to get
familiar with our site map and that it will assist you in finding more of the
resources we have to offer. Phil’s Fix It Corner - Phil
D’Ambrosio With
winter here or approaching maybe I can offer some advice to you folks about
keeping warm in the coming months. No matter what kind of system you use,
whether its oil, gas, electric wood stove fireplace or even kerosene make
sure they are in good operating condition and SAFE! If
you have any kind of air filters in the system make sure they are replaced or
cleaned. With your furnace in constant use during the winter months we don’t
get to open the windows as much as we want and if your filters are clogged
and dirty it can put extra stress on the system. I use pleated filters. The
pleats increase the surface area and enables the filter to catch more lint,
dust, pollen, and mildew, some of them catch up to 95% of everything that
passes through them. The extra bonus about using pleated filters is it takes
three times longer to become saturated with dust and dirt, so instead of
changing them every 30 days you only need to change them every 90 days. These
filters may even help any folks who have respiratory problems. When
I lived on With
utility costs rising all the time lots of folk use portable devices such as
kerosene heaters or electric plug in units. PLEASE be careful if you use them
in your house. If you need to buy an electric plug in make sure its got a
Underwriters Label (UL) on it and has safeguards such as a safety tip switch
that turns the unit off in case of accidental tipping. Kerosene
heaters can be a potential hazard if used improperly. Make sure you use 1 K
grade kerosene. Always store kerosene in a separate container intended for
kerosene, NEVER in a can that has contained gasoline. Even small amounts of
gasoline or other volatile fuels or solvents mixed with kerosene can
substantially increase the risk of fire or explosion. Rule of thumb is RED
container for gas and BLUE container for kerosene. If you purchase at the
pump make sure it’s the kerosene pump, most service stations have separate
islands for kerosene. 1 K kerosene should be purchased from a dealer who can
certify that it is 1 K! Grades other than 1K can lead to the release of more
pollutants in your home, posing a possible health risk. Different grades of
kerosene look the same so be careful. Please fill the tank outdoors and make
sure the unit is cool and don’t overfill allow for expansion. Always make
sure you have a few windows open, these units produce certain pollutants such
as carbon monoxide & nitrogen dioxide. Exposure to low levels of these
pollutants may be harmful to individuals with chronic respiratory or
circulatory health problems. Follow the cleaning and maintenance procedures
recommended by the manufacturer. Fireplaces
are pretty to look at and relaxing but there are still some responsibilities
that need to be addressed. You should have a screen or preferably a Glass
door in front to keep hot embers from jumping onto the floor. Doors help keep
the heat from going up the chimney. Speaking of which, you should make sure
the damper is in good operating condition and the chimney open is not plugged
or clogged. Burned seasoned wood if you can, if the wood isn’t seasoned you
can add to the plugging of your chimney by creating creosote. Well
I hope I was able to give you folks a little info to stay warm during the
coming months, see ya next month……………….
The funding of GROWW is a subject not
discussed in our chatrooms. This is by
design. Our primary purpose is to help
each other down the path of grief.
This venue will give us the forum to provide some of the funding
information. There are no dues or fees
to be a member of GROWW. Our chatrooms
are available to all who have suffered a loss. There are no charges for any of the
resources we provide. Even though we
have an unpaid Staff and all of the work is done by volunteers, there are
expenses incurred running a site such as ours. There is a monthly fee to host our domain
to keep our site on the internet.
There is also a fee for the chatrooms.
All of our funding comes in the form of donations. These donations come in many forms. HelpGROWW is our fundraising site. It is located at http://www.helpgroww.com/ there is a
link to the HelpGROWW site on each of our pages. We have agreements with merchants listed on
the HelpGROWW site who pay GROWW a
referral fee on purchases made by people from our site who visit their
site. Please take some time to visit
HelpGROWW and see what we have to offer. We also have items made just for
GROWW. Mouse pads, T-Shirts, coffee
mugs, and our newest item the GROWW Christmas ornament all with the GROWW
logo are available for purchase. You
can see these items by clicking on the gifts button at the top of the
helpgroww page. Host News Congratulations to Lowell Hendrix (GFWHostLowell) on his
upcoming wedding on To unsubscribe to this email click reply with
UNSUBSCRIBE in the Subject Line. For
questions about this Newsletter or to submit an article, email newsletter@groww.org |
Ted A.
Modjeski Jr.
Deputy Director
GROWW.org
Grief Recovery for all Bereaved
http://www.groww.org/
a 501 (c)(3) Organization
GROWW, INC.© Judy Divers
11877 Douglas Rd
#102-PMB101
Alpharetta GA 30005