Tim Harrington of Erie — husband, father, golfer and fisherman — was only 39 when he died in September of 2005 from a rare form of adrenal cancer.
It had been just 10 months since his diagnosis, and although the family knew the prognosis, "we were in denial," Annemarie Harrington recalls. "We thought he was somehow going to pull through."
A case manager herself, Annemarie had seen families in grief and had made referrals to the Highmark Caring Place, A Center for Grieving Children, Adolescents and Their Families, in Erie. "So, when we suffered the loss," she says, "it was something I knew we needed to do."
Since 1997, the Highmark Caring Place has served more than 30,000 family members and community partners at its facilities in Erie, Pittsburgh and Lemoyne. A fourth location, in Warrendale, Pa., is opening this spring.
"One out of every 20 children will have a parent die before he or she is out of high school," reports Kathy Frisina, education and outreach coordinator for the Highmark Caring Place. "When you're one of those kids, you feel that no one understands. You need support."
Annemarie Harrington and children, Andrew, 13, and Abbie, 10, turned to the Highmark Caring Place for healing after losing their husband and father, Tim, in 2005.
Although the Harrington kids — Andrew, 13, and Abbie, 10 — were able to talk about their father's death, their mother says "they needed to be somewhere where they knew they weren't going through this alone."
Coming to the Highmark Caring Place that October, a month after Tim's death, "I figured they'd just talk us through it," Andrew says. "I wasn't expecting the food and games and fun."
"When I saw all the kids who were going through the same thing," Abbie adds, "I felt better. I felt that I could fit in. I made friends."
After completing all 10 sessions of peer-group support in 2005, the Harringtons went back in 2006. "I had a great time," Andrew says. "The activities room gave me and my friend time to unwind and talk."
"We found it was okay to have fun as a family again," Annemarie says. "The Highmark Caring Place helped us know that the future was going to be okay."Learn how to help a grieving child cope with loss by reading our Grieving pages.
Learn more about the Highmark Caring Place.
This story was originally published in an April 5, 2009, advertising supplement for Highmark Healthy High 5.