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,
grandchildren and siblings.
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.
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
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:
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:
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:
WALK TO REMEMBER TEE SHIRTS
The TCF North Shore-Boston Chapter annual Walk To Remember will take place on 9/13/26. More information regarding this event can be found through this link: Walk To Remember
If you would like to order a tee shirt for this year’s Walk To Remember, click on this link:
This link will be active until 8/26/26. The shirts that are ordered will be shipped to Tim Glendinning. Tim will then distribute the tee shirts at Ipswich River Park in North Reading before the Walk begins.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact Tim:
(508) 887-1890
WALK TO REMEMBER
TEE SHIRTS
The TCF North Shore-Boston Chapter annual Walk To Remember will take place on 9/21/25. More information regarding this event will be posted on our website in July. If you would like to order a tee shirt for this year’s Walk To Remember, click on this link:
This link will be active from 5/29/25 through 8/29/25. The shirts that are ordered will be shipped to Tim Glendinning. Tim will then distribute the tee shirts at Ipswich River Park in North Reading before the Walk begins.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact Tim:
(908) 902-8631
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY FOR OUR MEMBERS
We will be volunteering at this soup kitchen:
The Dwelling Place
523 Main Street
Woburn, Ma. 01801
If you can make it, please arrive at about 4:00 PM on Saturday, July 5, 2025.
All are welcome, including children, as long as they are accompanied by an adult.
If you are planning on attending or have any questions, please contact:
Pat Powell
Booklovr@aol.com
847-308-0331
TCF NATIONAL CONFERENCE SCHOLARSHIP
The TCF North Shore-Boston Chapter is offering four $500 scholarships (1 per family) for members who are planning to attend the National TCF Conference this year. These will be awarded based upon the order of submission. Details about the scholarship can be found on the application form. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact David Paul at: tcfnoshoreconnect@gmail.com
To access the application form, click here:
2025 TCF National Conference Scholarship Application
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY FOR OUR MEMBERS
We will be volunteering at this soup kitchen on Saturday, July 5, 2025:
The Dwelling Place
523 Main Street
Woburn, Ma. 01801
If you can make it, please arrive around 4:00 PM.
All are welcome, including children, as long as they are accompanied by an adult.
If you are planning on attending or have any questions, please contact:
Pat Powell
Booklovr@aol.com
847-308-0331
WALK TO REMEMBER
TEE SHIRTS
The TCF North Shore-Boston Chapter annual Walk To Remember will take place on 9/21/25. More information regarding this event will be posted on our website in July. If you would like to order a tee shirt for this year’s Walk To Remember, click on this link:
This link will be active from 5/29/25 through 8/29/25. The shirts that are ordered will be shipped to Tim Glendinning. Tim will then distribute the tee shirts at Ipswich River Park in North Reading before the Walk begins.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact Tim:
(908) 902-8631
Website Sponsor Messages
Our website is sponsored this November in loving memory of:
NICHOLAS RYAN AMIRAULT
Always in our hearts,
never forgotten
and forever missed
Miss you
with all our hearts.
Mom, Dad, Lynne
JIMMY KIRIAKOS
Jimmy’s Smile
Though his smile is gone forever,
and his hand we cannot touch,
we still have many memories
of the one we loved so much.
Your memory is our keepsake,
with which we’ll never part.
God has you in His keeping,
we have you in our hearts.
We miss you Jimmy,
but you’re never forgotten.
Event Updates
See information below on upcoming TCF events:
CANDLELIGHT REMEMBRANCE SERVICE
Sunday, December 13, 2026
6:30 PM
Aldersgate United Methodist Church
235 Park Street
North Reading, MA
Click here for additional information:
Website Sponsor Messages
Our website is sponsored this October
in loving memory of:
TIMOTHY GLENDINNING
Timothy’s 30th
Last month I wrote that it was 9 years since we had our last smile together and it puts time in a whole new world. I mentioned that day (your angel day on 9/5)) when you were 20 years old and how I would spend it thinking about you.
Now I write about your 30th birthday that will take place (on 10/27) and time has kind of frozen you forever at age 20, it’s just the way I will always see you when we had that last smile together at Endicott College. I know we shouldn’t play the what-if game, but it runs through my thoughts every so often, like today.
I think you probably would have met a great girl, married, settled down, started a family and lived a good live. You always had a way of looking at life with a smile and a giggle no matter how large or small whatever was going on, what a gift. You and your sister shared a way to have different viewpoints, but you would manage to keep a bright outlook for both of you, what a gift.
I can’t help to speculate into the future and all the good things you would bring into this world, and probably not even realize it, what a gift.
Today we will say happy birthday, however sad that you are not here, and you will ever be that beautiful 20-year young man to me. We miss you every day, every birthday, but I can think about all the gifts you have left us, knowing how you would have passed through the years. Thank you.
I will cherish all the gifts you have left us, and I know you will be keeping an eye on all of us on your 30thbirthday.
All our love, thanks for the gifts
Mom, Dad and Katherine
KAYLA ANNE BELL
On the Death of the Beloved
by John O’Donahue
Though we need to weep your loss,
You dwell in that safe place in our hearts
Where no storm or night or pain can reach you.
Your love was like the dawn
Brightening over our lives,
Awakening beneath the dark
A further adventure of color.
The sound of your voice
Found for us
A new music
That brightened everything.
Whatever your enfolded in your gaze
Quickened in the joy of its being;
You placed smiles like flowers
On the altar of the heart.
Your mind always sparkled
With wonder at things.
Though your days here were brief,
Your spirit was alive, awake, complete.
We look toward each other no longer
From the old distance of our names;
Now you dwell inside the rhythm of breath,
As close to us as we are to ourselves.
Though we cannot see you with outward eyes,
We know our soul’s gaze is upon your face,
Smiling back at us from within everything
To which we bring our best refinement.
Let us not look for you only in memory,
Where we would grow lonely without you.
You would want us to find you in presence,
Beside us when beauty brightens,
When kindness glows
And music echoes eternal tones.
When orchids brighten the earth,
Darkest winter has turned to spring;
May this dark grief flower with hope
In every heart that loves you.
May you continue to inspire us:
To enter each day with a generous heart.
To serve the call of courage and love
Until we see your beautiful face again
In that land where there is no more separation,
Where all tears will be wiped from our mind,
And where we will never lose you again.
We miss you and love you, Kayla,
Mom, Dad and Kieran
Meeting Updates
Our October 2026 chapter meetings will be held on:
Monday, 10/5/26 - 7:00 PM
In-Person Meeting
(E-mail invitation to follow)
You may also contact
to request an invitation
Topic: Circumstances of Our Loss
Wednesday - 10/21/26
In-Person Meeting - 7:00 PM
(E-mail invitation to follow)
You may also contact
to request an invitation
Topic: Open Sharing Session
-and-
Sibling Online Video Meeting
7:30 PM
(E-mail invitation to follow)
You may also contact Aimeeb15@gmail.com
if you would like to participate
Topic: Favorite Things About
Your Sibling
Wednesday - 10/28/26
Online Video Meeting - 7:00 PM
Please contact
if you would like to attend
Topic: Reintegrating Into the Workplace
Click here for our 2026 schedule:
In the event of inclement weather, necessitating the closing of North Reading public schools, our chaper meeting will also be canceled.
Event Updates
See information below on upcoming TCF events:
CANDLELIGHT REMEMBRANCE SERVICE
Sunday,
December 13, 2026
6:30 PM
Aldersgate United Methodist Church
235 Park Street
North Reading, MA
Click here for additional information:
Website Sponsor Messages
Our website is sponsored this October in
loving memory of:
TIMOTHY GLENDINNING
Timothy’s 30th
Last month I wrote that it was 9 years since we had our last smile together and it puts time in a whole new world. I mentioned that day (your angel day on 9/5)) when you were 20 years old and how I would spend it thinking about you.
Now I write about your 30th birthday that will take place (on 10/27) and time has kind of frozen you forever at age 20, it’s just the way I will always see you when we had that last smile together at Endicott College. I know we shouldn’t play the what-if game, but it runs through my thoughts every so often, like today.
I think you probably would have met a great girl, married, settled down, started a family and lived a good live. You always had a way of looking at life with a smile and a giggle no matter how large or small whatever was going on, what a gift. You and your sister shared a way to have different viewpoints, but you would manage to keep a bright outlook for both of you, what a gift.
I can’t help to speculate into the future and all the good things you would bring into this world, and probably not even realize it, what a gift.
Today we will say happy birthday, however sad that you are not here, and you will ever be that beautiful 20-year young man to me. We miss you every day, every birthday, but I can think about all the gifts you have left us, knowing how you would have passed through the years. Thank you.
I will cherish all the gifts you have left us, and I know you will be keeping an eye on all of us on your 30thbirthday.
All our love, thanks for the gifts
Mom, Dad and Katherine
KAYLA ANNE BELL
On the Death of the Beloved
by John O’Donahue
Though we need to weep your loss,
You dwell in that safe place in our hearts
Where no storm or night or pain can reach you.
Your love was like the dawn
Brightening over our lives,
Awakening beneath the dark
A further adventure of color.
The sound of your voice
Found for us
A new music
That brightened everything.
Whatever you enfolded in your gaze
Quickened in the joy of its being;
You placed smiles like flowers
On the altar of the heart.
Your mind always sparkled
With wonder at things.
Though your days here were brief,
Your spirit was alive, awake, complete.
We look toward each other no longer
From the old distance of our names;
Now you dwell inside the rhythm of breath,
As close to us as we are to ourselves.
Though we cannot see you with outward eyes,
We know our soul’s gaze is upon your face,
Smiling back at us from within everything
To which we bring our best refinement.
Let us not look for you only in memory,
Where we would grow lonely without you.
You would want us to find you in presence,
Beside us when beauty brightens,
When kindness glows
And music echoes eternal tones.
When orchids brighten the earth,
Darkest winter has turned to spring;
May this dark grief flower with hope
In every heart that loves you.
May you continue to inspire us:
To enter each day with a generous heart.
To serve the call of courage and love
Until we see your beautiful face again
In that land where there is no more separation,
Where all tears will be wiped from our mind,
And where we will never lose you again.
We miss you and love you, Kayla,
Mom, Dad and Kieran
Meeting Updates
Our October 2026 chapter meetings will be held on:
Monday - 10/5/26
In-Person Meeting - 7:00 PM
(E-mail invitation to follow)
Please contact
if you would like to attend
Topic: Circumstances of Our Loss
Wednesday - 10/21/26
In-Person Meeting - 7:00 PM
(E-mail invitation to follow)
Please contact
if you would like to attend
Topic: Open Sharing Session
-and-
Sibling Online Video Meeting - 7:30 PM
(E-mail invitation to follow)
You may also contact
if you would like to attend
Topic: Favorite Things About
Your Sibling
Wednesday, 10/28/26
Online Video Meeting - 7:00 PM
Please contact
if you would like to attend
Topic: Reintegrating Into the Workplace
Click here for our 2026 schedule:
In the event of inclement weather, necessitating the closing of North Reading public schools, our chapter meeting will also be canceled.
Website Sponsor Messages
Our website is sponsored this September in
loving memory of:
MAGGIE MARTIN
Miss You Maggie
every.single.day.
“Gone From My Sight”
By Henry Van Dyke
I am standing upon the seashore. A ship, at my side,
spreads her white sails to the moving breeze and starts
for the blue ocean. She is an object of beaty and strength.
I stand and watch her until, at length, she hangs like a speck
of white cloud just where the sea and sky come to mingle with each other.
Then, someone at my side says, “There, she is gone.”
Gone where?
Gone from my sight. That is all. She is just as large in mast,
hull and spar as she was when she left my side.
And she is just as able to bear her load of living freight to her destined port.
Her diminished size is in me – not in her.
And, just at the moment with someone says, “There, she is gone,”
there are other eyes watching her coming, and other voices
ready to take up the glad shout, “Here she comes!”
TIMOTHY GLENDINNING
Timothy Remembered
It has been 9 years since our last smile together. We have all mentioned our child’s smile and how it lights up a room, and we are all correct. That last smile lives with all of us and will be remembered until we meet again.
A friend once said life has a beginning but has no end, I couldn’t agree more, your life, your smile, your love has no end for any of us. This year will be the same as last year on your angel date (9/5) and will continue until I don’t know when. I will visit your bench at Endicott College, sit there and look at the pond where they held your remembrance vigil, read your write up for your dedication from the class of 2019. Next, I will stop by your skateboard cross on the road where this journey started and say a prayer. Then up to Ipswich CC, and the 6thhole where your plaque ‘Another Day in Paradise’ was placed. Usually me and Katherine plant flowers, but she is away at college, so it’s me. Followed by breakfast at the Agawam Dinner, order your usual egg, cheese muffin and home fries. The day will end at Mt. Vernon Cemetery with more flowers and prayers.
We all miss you, your smile, your light, but on this day as sad as it is, I know you will be with us all. Until we meet again, all our love.
Mom, Dad and Katherine
Meeting Updates
Our October 2026 chapter meetings will be held on:
Monday - 10/5/26
In-Person Meeting - 7:00 PM
(E-mail invitation to follow)
Please contact
if you would like to attend
Topic: Circumstances of Our Loss
Wednesday - 10/21/26
In-Person Meeting - 7:00 PM
(E-mail invitation to follow)
Please contact
if you would like to attend
Topic: Open Sharing Session
-and-
Sibling Online Video Meeting - 7:30 PM
(E-mail invitation to follow)
You may also contact
if you would like to attend
Topic: Favorite Things About
Your Sibling
Wednesday - 10/28/26
Online Video Meeting - 7:00 PM
Please contact
if you would like to attend
Topic: Reintegrating Into the Workplac
Click here for our 2026 schedule:
In the event of inclement weather, necessitating the closing of North Reading public schools, our chapter meeting will also be canceled.
Website Sponsor Messages
Our website is sponsored this August in loving memory of:
ERIC HILL
Eric - it's so hard to believe
that you would be turning 30 years old!
I love that you always still visit us.
We miss you tons and
love you to the moon!
Happy Heavenly Birthday to the best son.
xoxo Mom
Event Updates
See information below on upcoming TCF events:
WALK TO REMEMBER
Sunday, September 13, 2026
9:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Ipswich River Park
15 Central Street
North Reading, MA
Click here for additional information:
Website Sponsor Messages
Our website is sponsored this January in loving memory of:
JILLIAN ANNE SULLIVAN
Dear Jillian,
More loving and connected,
more vulnerable and strong,
more truthful and forgiving,
more wise and compassionate,
more faith- filled and courageous,
more trusting and open.
My love for you is endless
and made me more of all of these qualities,
and your life infinitely more impactful
than the number of years you had on this earth.
Together we will leave more love on earth
until God reunites us in heaven.
What a day that will be!
In love and gratitude,
Your Mom
BRIANNA LEE PAUL
AN UNTAMED LIFE
you never lived your life to the pleasure of others
a wild child blazing her own path
with an honesty so bold it caused
most of us to cower
you knowing but never fearing the aftermath
time has now created just enough space
to appreciate the truth unspoken
you were meant to part this measured realm unbroken
Love you forever - Mom Dad, Erin and Eden
Chapter Meeting Updates
Our February 2026 chapter meetings
will be held on:
Monday, 2/2/26 - 7:00 PM
In-Person Meeting
Please contact
if you would like to attend
Topic: Will I Laugh Again?
(feel free to bring a photo of your child)
Wednesday - 2/18/26 - 7:00 PM
In-Person Meeting
Please contact
if you would like to attend
Topic: Open Sharing Session
-and-
Sibling Online Video Meeting - 7:30 PM
(Email invitation to follow)
You may also contact Aimeeb15@gmail.com
if you would like to attend
Topic: Finding Out Your Sibling Died
Wednesday - 2/25/26 - 7:00 PM
Online Video Meeting
(Email invitation to follow)
You may also contact tcfnoshoreconnect@gmail.com
if you would like to attend
Topic: The New Normal
Click here for our 2026 schedule:
In the event of inclement weather, necessitating the closing of
North Reading public schools, our in-person chapter meetings
will also be canceled.