May 26, 2004
Michael's Place holds third annual Balloon Launch
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
"Dear Grandma Sally,
If I could, I would paint the Earth purple for you.
Love, Ray.
P.S. I love you."
Simple words, loving words, from a boy 10 years old who is missing his grandmother. Monday night, those words soared above Traverse City, attached to a biodegradable balloon that rose on a gentle breeze.
Held at Immaculate Conception Middle School and hosted by Michael's Place, the third annual Balloon Launch allowed community members to send a message to a lost loved one. This tangible form of grieving provided comfort and healing to participants.
"It's an annual event that takes place the Monday prior to the Memorial Day weekend, we invite community members who have lost somebody," said Mindy Buehl, executive director of Michael's Place. "It was really an emotional time for families as some came in already prepared with their letters and others sat down and wrote their letters at the tables. For some it was hard to write a letter because they have so much emotion inside."
"We want to help people grieve in a healthy manner, and this is something they can do to help that," she added.
Monica O'Brien of Traverse City attended the ceremony with three of her four young sons. In March 2003, O'Brien and her boys saw her mother, Judi Couturier of Interlochen, hit by a drunk driver and dying from injuries at the accident site.
Handling this tragic loss has been a challenge for every member of the family, O'Brien noted. She heard about Michael's Place from a friend of her mother's and decided the facilitated, weekly program would help her children to grieve. She and her sons began attending meetings a year ago.
"It has helped, especially my middle boys," O'Brien said. "My third son has really struggled with this, we've had quite a few sleepless nights."
Attending every Monday night, the boys found people - some who are peers also grieving a loss - who could understand their feelings.
"They've talked to the facilitators about their feelings and how to handle their anger in these types of situations," O'Brien said. "The thing that's neat for the kids is that they felt like the only people in the world who had such a loss and yes, maybe it was horrible. But it was the first step in having to face that there's all kinds of ways people die."
"We're afraid of death in this society," she added.
Meeting that fear and giving children a place to handle the complex and strong feelings surrounding death motivated Chris Dennos to found Michael's Place in October 2001. Dennos lost her cousin, Michael Dendrinos, 33 years ago when he was 14. She learned first hand that outlets or rituals for grief, especially for young people, were minimal at best.
"We just don't know how to talk about death, how to handle it," said Dennos, president of the Michael's Place board of directors.
Since it began, Michael's Place has helped 90 individuals handle their grief, serving 3,400 meals during the Monday night meetings. The program has helped students from 14 different schools as well as homeschooled families. The trained facilitators have volunteered more than 4,200 hours to serve these families.
Michael's Place will expand its services this September when it begins offering help to families experiencing an illness or who have suffered domestic violence. The organization is looking for volunteer facilitators who are willing to complete their training in August and begin working with families in September.
"They don't have to have a degree in social work but just a willingness to work with grieving children and their families," Buehl noted.
For more information on Michael's Place or the volunteer facilitator program, call Buehl at 947-6453 or see the organization's web page at www.michaels-place.net