A light in dark times
Rivera Funerals and Cremations and Ted Wiard of Golden Willow Retreat together work to ease grief process.
Loss exposes our fragility as humans and can create a host of responses, often unpredictable, isolating and challenging.
Seeking support from family and friends can be difficult, and where to turn for a safe space can be daunting. Tim Rivera, owner of Rivera Funerals and Cremations, understands that he and others can be in a unique position to be a positive force in people’s lives during an often dark rite of passage.
Rivera witnesses this first hand with the population he serves and the often debilitating effect grief has on people, and the community. He recognizes the need for a broader, more integrative approach to grief and loss beyond the business of a funeral and was at a loss for where to direct people.
Rivera ultimately ended up working with Ted Wiard of Golden Willow Retreat to provide grief counseling – a safety net for those navigating the stages of grief. Wiard has the experience and education to understand the complexities of loss and grief, having worked through a number of his own losses. Rivera and Wiard work together to provide a safe space for those experiencing the dark path of loss.
Taos is a spiritually diverse town. There are Catholics and Buddhists, and Native American traditions to name just a few.
Rivera Funerals and Cremations is locally owned and well-versed in the spiritual language of each. Rivera and Golden Willow Retreat philosophically view grief as universal, but the spiritual practices are as unique as the individual experiencing the loss. A place that lets you know you are not alone in your journey, that you are understood and can find comfort in a vulnerable place in your life to make the steps needed in the healing process. Unresolved grief can plague a person for a lifetime, cropping up with the next loss and the next until the person surrenders to the need for a true healing to take place.
Respecting the individual process and recognizing the impact that grief without healing has on families and the community, Tim Rivera and Ted Wiard embarked on a journey decades ago to provide a steady, comforting and bright beacon of hope for those needing care while walking the dark path of loss. The goal is to survive and grow through the complexities of loss – to come out on the other end with new insights and a sense of healing peace.
The business of helping others is a delicate balance of taking care of oneself while tending to the needs of someone with a recent loss – an often challenging, emotional time on many fronts. The team approach that Rivera and Wiard use, sharing the responsibility of caring for those with loss, is an important reason the grief counseling program has been successful. Working together allows for continuity of service to the individual and the resilience of the program and practitioners required to weather the ebb and flow of caring for
families and individuals experiencing the loss of a loved one.
Rivera Funerals and Cremations has been a generous financial supporter over the years of Golden Willow Retreat Counseling through grants and sponsorship. The working philosophy at Golden Willow Retreat, according to its statement, is to “view ceremony as an honoring of movement through life. The ceremony of beginnings and endings, birth and death are familiar. Seldom are life events black and white. Sometimes life transitions are confusing, as an ending is a new beginning, and a new beginning involves an ending. At Golden Willow Retreat, we honor all spiritual paths, allowing for various ceremonies for the many stages in the cycles of life. These rituals and ceremonies enable us to continue on with our healing process, showing respect to the past while moving forward into the future.”
Ted Wiard, who was recently nominated Taos Citizen of the Year for 2020, said this about Rivera Funerals and Cremations and his friend and colleague Tim Rivera: “Tim became my hero when my daughters and mother-in-law died in an auto accident. His care for me as well as for those who died was sacred. I saw a man be able to live in two worlds at the same time. When I returned to Taos and started Golden Willow Retreat, Tim and I reconnected to be able to help our communities in their time of need. We found a way to collaborate so that the bereft could be supported on their healing journey while honoring those who had died with dignity.
“A funeral, memorial services, ceremony, gathering or any other name used when coming together after a loss is imperative in the healing process as well as the continuum of care after the loss. The healing process is an individualized process with individualized needs – Tim and I have been able to honor individual needs, respect different cultural, religious and spiritual values while giving those services needed by the individual and the family. Tim, his family and staff have always honored and recognized the reverence of their jobs and together through funeral services, grief groups and ongoing support. The collaboration of Golden Willow and Rivera Family Funeral services continues to strive to support the individual, family and communities in times of need.”
Rivera said he feels the program is an unusual partnership that works. Both men are passionate about making a tangible impact in the community and view loss as a universal rite of passage, one that affects all regardless of socioeconomic, education or cultural background.
Rivera recognizes that success is making the community a better place and enhancing the lives he touches in a business that sees pain and loss as a matter of course every day. He challenges all businesses in Taos to pledge their resources to continue the mission of bringing light in the darkness to so many who need it.
For more information about funeral services, visit
ing, visit
For grief counsel