North Shore-Boston Chapter

The Compassionate Friends
North Shore - Boston Chapter

Grief Support after the Death of a Child

This website is dedicated to the memory of all of our children.

The Mission of The Compassionate Friends is to assist families toward the positive resolution of grief following the death of a child of any age and to provide information to help others be supportive.

We are a national, nonprofit, self-help organization that offers friendship, understanding and hope to bereaved parents, grandparents and siblings. Our meetings are open to all family members who are grieving the death of a child, grandchild or sibling. There is no religious affiliation and no dues or fees.

WE NEED NOT WALK ALONE

WE ARE THE COMPASSIONATE FRIENDS

CHAPTER UPDATES

Our chapter holds two in-person meetings and one online video meeting per month. The in-person meetings are held on the 1st Monday and 3rd Wednesday of each month. The sibling online video meeting is held on the third Wednesday of each month. The parent online video meeting is held on the fourth Wednesday of each month.

More detailed information about our upcoming chapter meetings can be found in the Meeting Updates column below.

An email invitation will be sent to members prior to each meeting. You may also request an invitation by emailing tcfnoshoreconnect@gmail.com to let us know that you would like to participate.

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We would like to inform all of our members that we no longer mail hard copies of our monthly chapter newsletter. Our newsletters are accessible electronically through this link: Chapter Newsletters

If you have any questions, please contact our chapter leader, David Paul. You may access his contact information through this link:

https://tcfnoshore-boston.org/contact-us.aspx

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We are currently in need of help with managing our chapter website. If anybody has interest in helping out, please contact our Website Manager via email:

tcfnoshoreweb@gmail.com

Also, in order to help cover our chapter website fees, we invite our members to sponsor our website for 1 month in memory of their children, grandchildren or siblings. The monthly website sponsor donation is $25 per member and the maximum number of sponsors per month is 2. Sponsors may post a message to their children, grandchildren or siblings; this message will be displayed in the Website Sponsor column on the Home page of our website and will also appear in our chapter newsletter.

If you would like to sponsor our chapter website, please contact our Website Manager via email: tcfnoshoreweb@gmail.com

Website sponsor signup sheets are also available at our in-person meetings.

ADDITIONAL SUPPORT OPTIONS

In addition to our chapter meetings, other support options are listed below:

1) TCF Live Chats

The National TCF website offers scheduled Live Chat sessions on different days and with different topics. The details can be found here:

National TCF Live Chat Schedule

2) Private Facebook Groups

TCF offers several private Facebook groups facilitated by bereaved parents, grandparents or siblings. They can be accessed here:

TCF Private Facebook Groups

3) TCF North Shore-Boston

Facebook Page

Our chapter has its own Facebook page that is active with members from our chapter. You can access it here:

TCF North Shore-Boston

Facebook Page

Website Sponsor Messages

Our website is sponsored this July in loving memory of:

CARY & JAMIE THABET

Too many years

have gone by

without you.

Never forgetting.

Always loving.

Miss you

with all our hearts.

Mom, Dad, Lynne

TOM POPE

Tom,

It is so surreal that 29 years have passed

since you were physically with us.

That being said, we totally believe and trust

that you are still with us and always will be.

Your brother, Dave, played in a golf

tournament on his and his twin brother,

Christopher’s birthday.

He wrote Christopher’s and your initials

on his golf ball before the match

and ended up hitting a hole in one.

You will forever be missed,

but always remembered by all of us . . .

your Mom and Dad, your siblings,

your aunts and uncles,

your cousins, your friends,

and now your nieces and nephew.

I have learned so much

over the past 29 years,

such that I now trust that life

has a beginning, but it has no end.

Your life will never end,

as long as you are always in our hearts;

there is no doubt that you

will forever be in our hearts.

Love, Mom, Dad,

Kelly, Ian, Tom, Nell & Kit,

Dave & Marisa

Meeting Updates

Our July 2026 chapter meetings will be held on:

Monday - 7/6/26

In-Person Meeting - 7:00 PM

Please contact

tcfnoshoreconnect@gmail.com

if you would like to attend

Topic: Open Sharing Session

Wednesday - 7/15/26

In-Person Meeting - 7:00 PM

Please contact

tcfnoshoreconnect@gmail.com

if you would like to attend

Topic: Finding Hope After Loss

(feel free to bring a photo of your child)

-and-

Sibling Online Video Meeting - 7:30 PM

(Email invitation to follow)

You may also contact Aimeeb15@gmail.com

to request an invitation

Topic: Does The Way Our Siblings Died

Affect Our Grief?

Monday, 7/22/26

Online Video Meeting - 7:00 PM

(e-mail invitation to follow)

You may also contact

tcfnoshoreconnect@gmail.com

if you would like to attend

Topic: Open Sharing Session

Click here for our 2026 schedule:

Meetings & Events

In the event of inclement weather, necessitating the closing of North Reading public schools, our chapter meetings will also be canceled.

Event Updates

See information below on upcoming TCF events:

SUMMER BBQ

Sunday, July 19, 2026

12:00 PM – 3:00 PM

Ipswich River Park

15 Central Street

North Reading, MA

Click here for additional information:

Summer BBQ

2026 TCF NATIONAL CONFERENCE

Baltimore, MD

July 2-5, 2026

Click here for additional information:

TCF National Conference

Website Sponsor Messages

Our website is sponsored this June

in loving memory of:

ADAM & JASON DIXEY

Adam Dixey

You live in the things you've built,

in your art,

in our laughter and in our tears,

in the quiet ways you taught us how to love more deeply.

You've left pieces of you everywhere

and what a gift that is.

The grief is impossibly loud

but our love for you is louder.

The memories will never fade,

the lessons you taught us without even knowing it.

We are softer and we are stronger because of you.

Maybe part of healing is realizing

that you're not really gone at all.

You're the song that plays at the perfect moment

and the courage that we find on difficult days.

Your beauty will live in our hearts forever.

We love you so much.

Jason Dixey

A light like yours is never truly extinguished.

A glimmer remains in the hearts of everyone who knew you,

and everyone who hears our stories.

Because we will never stop telling your stories.

Stories of your infectious smile.

Stories of how you loved so deeply.

Stories of the mischief you got into and the fun you had.

We tell of how you made us laugh,

how you were the life of the party,

how you were a fierce friend.

Your light was not extinguished,

it was shared among those of us who loved you the most.

We will carry it with us for the rest of our time,

then pass it on to the next.

We love you, always and forever.

Love, Mom, Dad, Riley, Amanda and Melissa

CHRISTOPHER POPE

Christopher,

Though you were physically here with us for only 3 days,

you have continued to live on with all of us for the past 32 years.

Your twin, Dave, hates celebrating his birthdays,

because for him, it’s not fair that he’s still alive and you’re not.

Your new sister-in-law ordered a slice of cake for you

when she and Dave were out celebrating your birthdays.

They also dedicated a seat for you

with a bouquet of flowers at their wedding ceremony.

You taught us so many important life lessons

and we will forever be grateful for that.

Life keeps evolving, as I’m sure you know,

and I trust that you will be with us

every step of the way.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Christopher!!!

We love you!

Mom, Dad, Dave, Marisa, Kelly, Ian, Tom, Nell

Website Sponsor Messages

Our website is sponsored this March

in loving memory of:

JON McGLINCHEY

In Memory of Jon "Babe" McGlinchey 11/8/87-3/28/16

A Decade I can't believe it's been ten years- how quickly time has passed.

I can't decide if it has crawled or if it's moving fast.

So much has changed since the day you left, some joyful, some so sad.

Yet every memory of you makes the hardest days not so bad.

I’ll cherish each and every moment until we meet again,

and hold you close within my heart until the very end.

~Crystal Chambers

Missing you forever, Your sister!

ROBERT M. DeCARLO

03/08/1983 – 01/18/2019

Your birthday will be here soon, remembering that day,

the nurse put you in my arms, I held you close

and was in awe of everything about you.

I immediately said, “I want another one,”

and less than two years later I had your brother.

My greatest gift to each of you will always be each other.

I feel you close and with us almost every day.

On days I do not, I think to myself,

well, he’s off golfing (as we know there is golf in heaven)

or watching Sports.

My tears still fall but I know you understand it,

you knew me, so I know you are saying

“it’s ok Ma” let them fall “it’s ok”.

I believe on your arrival in Heaven,

your Grandparents, family and friends were there

waiting to surround you with love and welcome you.

In Heaven, the air is pure, fresh, you can breathe,

no inhalers, no asthma, no pain.

You gave 35 years of wonder, fun, laughs (and a few worries)

but your love of family was deeply felt.

We wanted more, many more years with you.

Your brother who knew you best, described you best . . .

If you called Rob in December, you could bet

he was watching “It’s a Wonderful Life”.

Like George Bailey at the end of the movie, Rob loved life,

he loved the town he lived and grew up in,

he loved his friends and family and

he loved living life his way.

Happy Birthday, Rob

You are forever in our hearts and thoughts

Until we are together again…”We only want to see

you laughing in the Purple Rain”…

Love, Ma & Family

Website Sponsor Messages

Our website is sponsored this February

in loving memory of:

JASON MATTHEW DIXEY

No words can say how much we miss you,

but you live on in our hears forever.

“Sadness I but a wall between two gardens.” (Kahil Gibran)

“I have not heard your voice in years,

but my heart has conversations with you every day.” (Rumi)

“I carry your heart. I carry you in my heart.” (E. E. Cummings)

Forever missed, forever loved.

Until we see you again.

Love, Mom and Dad

ANDREW BROWN

In Memory of Andrew “Drew” Brown

2/19/1998 – 3/21/2024

A Blessing

A mom!...Me, A mom!

What a real life changing information bomb.

Can I do this? Will we be okay?

What if I don’t know what to do or to say?

What if I do not know the right way?

The magic. The messy. All the mistakes.

The laughter. The love. The memories we make.

Celebrations or stormy weather,

growing through it all, individually, together.

A bond unbreakable, a connection unshakeable,

a mom and her son.

You taught me the meaning of unconditional love.

A lifetime of memories to treasure and share,

keeping you alive with us, even though you’re not here.

Can I do this? Will we be okay?

What if I don’t know what to do or say?

What if I do not know the ‘right’ way????

Grace, trust, and knowing……some of how we keep going;

love and connections transcending time and space,

until we meet again in a different place.

So, in heaven, as you grow, with all of the magic, learning and love.

I will know you are in His hands of safety above.

I will always be your mom. And you will always be my son.

I got to be your mom for this lifetime.

This gift of unconditional love, the experience of you.

You were a light, your light and I do my best

with the remaining shattered pieces and holes

in my heart to let your light and live shine through.

The ripple effects of your presence is eternal.

Not a day goes by without feeling gratitude

that I got to be your mom.

CHAPTER MAILING ADDRESS

The Compassionate Friends

North Shore-Boston Chapter

c/o Bob Boulanger

42 Chatham Road

Billerica, MA 01821

CHAPTER MEETING LOCATION

Aldersgate United Methodist Church

235 Park Street

North Reading, MA 01864

DONATIONS

Our chapter relies on donations to fund our newsletter, website, meetings and events. We are grateful for whatever you can contribute.

Donate Now

CHAPTER MAILING ADDRESS

The Compassionate Friends

North Shore-Boston Chapter

c/o Bob Boulanger

42 Chatham Road

Billerica, MA 01821

CHAPTER MEETING LOCATION

Aldersgate United Methodist Church

235 Park Street

North Reading, MA 01864

DONATIONS

Our chapter relies on donations to fund our newsletter, website, meetings and events. We are grateful for whatever you can contribute.

Donate Now