Facilitators of the GriefShare program held at Vineyard Christian Church in Wheeling are, from left, Jo Lynne Nugent, Clark Coulling and Marilyn Rasz. The program meets weekly and helps those who have suffered a loss of a friend or family member. Photo by Heather Ziegler

Clark Coulling knows all too well the meaning of grief. When his wife died of cancer four years ago, he experienced all of the feelings associated with losing a loved one. From anger to sadness to finding his way back to some sort of normal life, Coulling said he went through all of the stages of grief. “You know the rest of the world moves on and I realized that I had to find the new me,” Coulling said. Coulling found solace in a program called GriefShare offered at Vineyard Christian Church in Wheeling. It was there that he learned his feelings were normal parts of the grieving process even though every person’s grieves a little differently. “I’m now doing hospice work. It helps to talk with someone who is going through the same thing,” Coulling noted. “Now through GriefShare I am speaking from experience, not theory. GriefShare helped me through that first year of special occasions that are the toughest,” he added. Jo Lynne Nugent and Marilyn Rasz, facilitators of the program at Vineyard, also have experienced grief in their lives but have learned to help not only themselves but others through the 13-week program. They believe holidays, birthdays and anniversaries mount the greatest challenge for those going through the grieving process. At Vineyard, GriefShare is offered three times a year beginning on the first Thursday of February, June and October and lasting for 13 weeks.