Celebrating memories of mom

Mother’s Day can be a difficult time for people who have recently lost their moms.

Families heading off to brunch, flowers, cards and gifts in hand can be a painful sight for those whose mothers are no longer living. The holiday can also be very isolating says Eileen McLaughlin, a bereavement coordinator with Holy Redeemer Hospice in Philadelphia. The hospice hosts an annual “Memories of Mom” tea where mourning families can come together.

“It’s important with people who are grieving to know that they have a safe place to go to continue the legacy work of their loved one, that there’ll always be someone to listen,” said McLaughlin.

John Dougherty says the event helped him and his brother after the death of their mother Mary E. Dougherty.

“It’s different now getting through Mom’s Day,” said Dougherty, “a lot of beautiful, wonderful memories, and carrying on in her name, and doing the right things in life.”

He says he and his brother Gerry enjoyed sharing a story about their mother, who had to drop out of high school and go to work during the great depression. She later was awarded an honorary diploma.