INSIDE
NO service fees on cruises, tours & packages!! Gift Certificates Available
Community Calendar �����������B10
Discover Roanoke Inauguration ����� B1 ��������������������������� A6
Exotic tropical island vacations, luxury and adventure cruises, romantic getaways, honeymoon packages, safaris and tours.
Tired of Internet searches? 5129 Illinois Road, Suite 111 We provide FREE (260)-482-8251 or (800)-552-4978 professional service! www.grueningertravel.net
Serving Southwest Allen County & Roanoke
February 3, 2017
Music therapy shares journey through grief
Stop Grueninger Stop inin Grueninger Travel today! Travel today!
By Garth Snow
‘Healing Through Music’
gsnow@kpcmedia.com
“How many people are suffering out there in the community who don’t even know that they can go talk to someone for free about their grief?” Music therapist Emily Paar sees the faces of grief. She welcomes the bereaved. She puts them at ease. Her music becomes their conversation and their healing. No two conversations are the same. “I think it’s such a brave thing to reach out when they need help, and I would encourage people to reach out,” she said. “So many people struggle. This is something that we don’t talk about enough. It’s something that people don’t understand. People think you should just move on and get over it, and that’s not how grief works.” Paar will present “Healing Through
Thursdays, March 2, 9, 16 and 23, 5:30-7:30 p.m. Peggy F. Murphy Community Grief Center, on the campus of Visiting Nurse, 5920 Homestead Road, Fort Wayne. Music therapist Emily Paar will “explore the emotional and creative qualities of music as it relates to grief.” A musical background is not necessary. No cost to attend. RSVP by Feb. 27 by calling (260) 435-3261. Light refreshments will be served.
COURTESY PHOTO BY VISITING NURSE
Music therapist Emily Paar visits a patient at the Peggy F. Murphy Community Grief Center. She said the grief center is available to anyone who has experienced a loss.
Music” four Thursday evenings in March at Visiting Nurse’s Peggy F. Murphy Community Grief Center. The four-
part series is free to anyone who is experiencing grief. “I’ve had some people who had just lost their
PHOTO BY GARTH SNOW
The Fort Wayne Youth Engagement Council and advisers are: (front, from left) Emily Lahey, Jazmyn Hernandez, Hannah Benson, Alicia Speer, Joe Straley, Julia Andorfer, Emma Bailey, Lilli Hagadorn, (standing, from left) Doreen Benavente-Sickafoose, Karen Richards, Brandon Blumenherst, Antonio Menson, Carter Davis, Sana Ghazali, Kaleb McCague, Grace McGuire, Ryan Haffner, Deborah Choe, Justin Freeman, Adrianna McNab, Joshua Wolfe, Peyton Godfrey, Will Pape and Ivy McLimans.
Youth council to share Fort Wayne’s success Fort Wayne’s Mayor’s Youth Engagement Council will share its success story at a statewide council of similar groups.
Former Fort Wayne Mayor Paul Helmke also will address the Accelerate Indiana Municipalities summit Feb. 24 at Launch Fishers, in Fishers, Ind. Karen L. Richards, the
Fort Wayne unit’s adult coordinator, said the gathering will include breakout sessions at which students can discuss ideas and begin a statewide network. See YOUTH, Page A11
INfortwayne Publications
gsnow@kpcmedia.com
3306 Independence Drive, Fort Wayne, IN 46808
By Garth Snow
spouses, or had lost someone years ago, but it can be any relationship, be it sister or child or brother,” she said. “It’s a
safe space, and it doesn’t have to be something that you come to individually. A couple can come or someone else who might be helping you along your journey.” She sees the grief center as primarily for adults, complementing the role that Erin’s House for Grieving Children serves in the community. A grief counselor typically will be hand at Paar’s music therapy sessions. “There is no expectation for anybody to
be musical,” Paar said. “Some people think music therapy is only for people who are musicians; I would argue that we are all musicians in our own right. “As music therapists we are trained to facilitate and support our music experiences with anybody, no matter what they are able to do. So there is just no need for anyone to think ‘I can’t drum’ or ‘I can’t hold a beat,’ because we won’t See GRIEF, Page A8