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Davis
Enterprise - December 10, 2003
Children's
Memorial Day
By Lauren Keene/Enterprise staff writer
On Sunday, a day known as Children's Memorial Day, area residents plan to gather at Caffe Italia in
Davis to light candles in memory of their children who have died.
They will be taking part in the Worldwide Candle Lighting, an annual event that was started in 1997
by The Compassionate Friends, a grief support network with chapters in 29 countries.
They include TCF's Sacramento Valley chapter, which will gather for the candle lighting from 6 to
8:30 p.m. Sunday at Caffe Italia, 1121 Richards Blvd. All families who have lost a child are invited to
join them.
"The Worldwide Candle Lighting allows grieving families to know that their children have not been
and never will be forgotten, whether that child died 60 years ago or yesterday," said Patricia Loder,
executive director of The Compassionate Friends. "This event surpasses all artificial, religious and
cultural boundaries, allowing us to mourn as one when death robs the world of its most valuable
resource."
Held each year on the second Sunday in December, the Worldwide Candle Lighting calls for families
and friends to unite and light a candle from 7 to 8 p.m. in their local time zone in honor of the
children who left them too soon.
As the candles burn down in one time zone they are lighted in the next, "creating a 24-hour wave of
light that encircles the globe," says TCF's national Web site,
TheCompassionateFriends.org.
Also on Sunday, the national Web site will host a daylong "Remembrance Book" for people to leave
messages in memory of their children.
Limited space is available for the Davis candle-lighting gathering, and those who wish to attend
are asked to RSVP by calling
Cecilia Gabrielli-Villanueva at 219-8099 or Darlene Johnson at (916) 457-4096, or by sending an
e-mail message to maxzmom@
balloonrelease.com. Information about the event is available at balloonrelease.com.
Those who attend are asked to bring their own candles, and extra candles will be available on an
as-needed basis. Refreshments will be provided and have been donated by local businesses.
Sponsors of Sunday's event include Caffe Italia, Nugget Market of Woodland, Coldwell Banker Doug
Arnold Real Estate of Davis, Yolo Federal Credit Union of Woodland, All Star Rents of Davis, Appraisal
Dynamics Inc. of Davis, Old Republic Title of Davis and Discovery Home Loans of Stockton.
"Our heartfelt thanks for the incredible support we've received from these local businesses," said
Gabrielli-Villanueva, an organizer of the event. "It makes a difference in our lives."
The Compassionate Friends began in Coventry, England, in 1969, when two sets of parents bonded
following the deaths of their two young sons. They later invited other grieving parents to join them,
and eventually organized as a self-help group called The Society of the Compassionate Friends.
Today, there are TCF chapters throughout the world, with nearly 600 in the United States alone. In
the U.S., chapters are open to all bereaved parents, siblings, grandparents and other family
members who are grieving the death of a child of any age, from any cause.
Information about the organization and the locations of its chapters are available at its Web site
or by calling its toll-free number, (877) 969-0010.
- Reach Lauren Keene at mailto:lkeene@davisenterprise.net
Wednesday, Dec 10, 2003 |
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