South support group started for women who lost mothers
by Katy O’Halloran, reporter

    Motherhood is a wonderful occasion for most women and an event that usually strengthens the bond between the mother-to-be and her mother. But, what about women whose mothers have died?
  Whether one has lost a mother when a child, an adolescent or a     young woman, the pain and sadness of that loss will always be there.

    Tarrant County College has formed a support group for women who have lost their mothers. This support group is open for any student attending TCC or for potential students.

    Triesha Light, Women in New Roles coordinator, conducts these support group meetings.

    The Motherless Daughters organization was first established in 1995 when Hope Edelman’s book Motherless Daughters: The Legacy of Loss became a New York Times bestseller.

    South Campus started the first Motherless Daughter’s organization in Fort Worth and held its first meeting recently.

    At the beginning of the meeting, eight women completed a survey designed to help them deal with the loss of their mothers. Many women tried to hold back their tears and emotions as they read the questions on the survey.

    Sitting in a circle, each woman explained, sometimes emotionally, how her mother died and discussed the impact the mother’s death had on the her life.

    One woman lost her mother four months ago. She told the group how special her mother was, and that she needed to find the strength within herself to go back to her mother’s house, to grieve her death.

    The group is not only for daughters who have lost their mothers in death. It is also a support group for women who have had a physical separation from their mothers, emotional abandonment and neglect.

    Several women in the group said they experienced neglect and abuse from their mothers. These women have not lost their mothers to death, but they have lost them to emotional abandonment.

    “Grief changes, but the loss is their staring you right in the face”, said Light, who has also lost her mother to death.

    Everyone in the group agreed that the first meeting was extremely helpful and all vowed confidentiality.

    The next Motherless Daughters meeting will be Saturday, Dec. 1, 10 a.m. to noon in the library on South Campus.

    Light said the meeting would begin with the question “The loss of my mother was …”

    For more information, contact Light at 817-515-4740 or e-mail her at triesha.light@tccd.net.