HALO’s beginning came about as the continuation
of a dream. HealingAfterLoss.Org was created literally,
on the wings of an angel, Judy Divers. Judy was our friend,
our mentor and the inspiration behind what has become the
HALO Community.
In 1992, Judy lost her husband Bill to cancer. She experienced
what most experience when they lose someone they love. She
found her world turned upside down and her life became one
of bewilderment, pain and disbelief. She wondered how the
world could go on, when her whole world had been taken from
her. She wore the mask that we all wear in the outside world
(the mask that fools people into believing that we're ok)
but wondered still, why others couldn't see the pain, or
hear the gut wrenching sounds that came from deep inside
of her, the “cries of her soul, struggling to stay alive”.
She realized that they didn’t understand and never would
until they went through it themselves. She also realized
how very alone it felt to have no one around her who understood
what she was going through.
She stumbled upon a group of widows and widowers who met
informally on AOL, and found a group people who understood
what she was feeling. She realized how comforting and beneficial
it was to be with those who DO understand, and that her
healing started after being with people who could emphasize
with her, not merely offer her sympathy. Judy decided that
the feeling of closeness and understanding that was found
in that room needed to be shared, needed structure and direction.
She had found her mission, her purpose in life. From that
moment on, she dedicated her life to providing that structure
and started a community for people to meet, grieve, share
and heal together.
The Internet was her world, her platform, and she opened
the door to all who were grieving. She had and an uncanny
gift of love and understanding that she passed on to all
who entered her chat rooms. She shared that gift with thousands,
including the founders of HALO. Judy gave us hope that we
could recover from grief, and we in turn dedicated our lives
to passing that hope on to others.
On December 5, 1999, Judy died of lung cancer. Though her
work here on earth is over, her dream, her mission in life,
lives on. HALO is a part of that dream, a continuation of
her belief that no one should grieve alone. Judy laid the
foundation, and HALO was built by a group of people dedicated
to carrying on her dream. Our mission is to pass on to others
what she passed onto us in the hopes that the circle of
love and understanding that she created will never be broken
and that Judy’s dream, will live on forever.
Our first temporary site was an MSN community which was
created on June 18, 2002. We opened our doors as an independent
site on August 14, 2002. On February 3, 2004, Healing After
Loss.Org, Inc. was incorporated under §501(c)(3) of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1954 in Utica, New York as a non-profit
corporation.
Love, DebLynnA
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