A poem by Pamela Gabbay –

It has been 10 years

Since you died

Why, I ask

Do I still cry?

10 years without you

Without your smile

Without your touch

Without your hugs

Telling me that everything will be all right

Thanksgiving is here

Christmas will be here soon.

10 years without you at the table

10 years without your potato salad

Your turkey

Your grin

As we all say an off-beat Thanksgiving Prayer.

Off I go to another home this Thanksgiving

It is not your home

It is not Dad’s home

Death took you both from the table.

Off I go to watch

As another family has Thanksgiving.

Another Mom and Dad are at the head of the table

It is her potato salad

Her turkey

Her family’s Thanksgiving Prayer.

I am invited to this home

I am welcome in this home

I am loved in this home

Still, 10 years later, I want what I had.

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Pamela Gabbay

Pamela Gabbay, M.A., FT, was awarded the Fellow in Thanatology by the Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC) and is a Certified Bereavement Counselor. She earned her B.A. in Psychology from California State University, San Bernardino and her M.A. in Psychology from Claremont Graduate University. Pamela is the Program Director of The Mourning Star Center for Grieving Children in Palm Desert, California and works extensively with grieving children, teens and their families. For more information, please visit www.mourningstar.org. In 2008, Pamela and the Mourning Star Center were featured on the National Hospice Foundation of America’s Bereavement Teleconference Living with Grief: Children and Adolescents. Pamela is the Camp Director for Camp Erin - Palm Springs, the first Camp Erin in California. Camp Erin is a free camp for grieving children and teens created in partnership with The Moyer Foundation. Pamela is also President of the California Chapter of the Association for Death Education and Counseling. ADEC So Cal is an organization dedicated to promoting excellence in death education. She is on the Board of Directors of the National Alliance for Grieving Children. Additionally, she is co-owner of www.GriefPosters.com a poster company that produces sensitive and educational grief-related posters. Pamela appeared on the radio show Healing the Grieving Heart with Dr. Gloria and Dr. Heidi Horsley, to discuss Adult Children Losing Parents. To hear Pamela being interviewed on this show, click on the following link: www.voiceamericapd.com/health/010157/horsley111308.mp

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