November 19 , 2004

Memorial service provides
comfort and support

The MassGeneral Hospital for Children Comfort and Support After Loss Committee held the 13th annual Pediatric, Neonatal and Obstetric Bereavement Program Nov. 7 in the O'Keeffe Auditorium. This service is dedicated to those who have experienced the death of an infant, child or adolescent and also includes families who have experienced miscarriage, stillbirth and neonatal loss.

Alan Ezekowitz, MBChB, DPhil, chief of Pediatrics, Howard Weinstein, MD, chief of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology, and Lori Carson, RN, nurse manager for Labor and Delivery, each gave a welcome address. Susan and Tom Walsh, who lost their son, Alex, spoke about their journey through grief and bereavement during the past five and a half years.

Interwoven throughout the service were music and songs by the St. Thomas Villanova Church and St. Florence Parish choirs. Parents and family members were given tulip bulbs and a pewter heart in memory of their children. The 1998 to 2003 memorial quilts and the 2004 memorial scrapbook also were on display.

Kathryn Beauchamp, RN, of MGH Nursing, hangs hearts decorated
by families in memory of their children.