‘Life will be different’
Liz Welcher has always wanted to help other people so when she reached her mid-40s and her family was grown up, she became an aromatherapist and reflexologist.
Later, she trained as a volunteer bereavement counsellor. Through her voluntary work, Liz has met bereaved people in all sorts of different situations from people whose loved ones have committed suicide to men and women who have lost their long-term partners and those who have lost adult children.
Liz (52) says that although everyone grieves differently, there are common threads which can help everyone. She says that although newly bereaved people can’t initially believe it, life will eventually get a bit easier.
“No one ever gets over a bereavement but you do learn to live with it,” says Liz. “The old saying really is true: time is a great healer. Don’t listen if someone suggests you should have ‘got over’ your loss.”
Liz tries to encourage the people she supports to accept the fact that life will be different after losing a loved one. “You will be a different person from now on. Perhaps you won’t be a wife or a husband or a mum or dad any more, but you will still be you and you need to make a new and different way of life for yourself. Life can be enjoyed again, but it does take time.”
Using her experience, Liz has compiled a plan to help people who have lost a loved one. She hopes that anyone who has recently been bereaved will find it helpful and comforting.