Brooks an Dunn inspires "Believe" in the journey
Plano Profile
November 2006 - Britney Porter
Country music legends Brooks and Dunn’s hit song "Believe" has inspired
Journey of Hope founder, Mark Hundley, to create “Believe” in the
Journey. The free presentation will serve bereaved families, those
grieving a loss, and those seeking information or personal enrichment.
Hundley is a counselor, author, and noted speaker on grief issues. He
is also a longtime friend of Ronnie Dunn. The song "Believe” is about
the power of faith, wisdom and meeting loved ones after death.
The presentation is from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, November 7 at
McKinney North High School (2550 Wilmeth Rd. in McKinney). Guests may
enter a raffle drawing to win Brooks and Dunn autographed memorabilia
like an autographed guitar, an autographed "Believe" cap and T-shirt,
and an autographed "Hillbilly Deluxe" CD.
The fundraiser will benefit Journey of Hope Grief Support Center for
families who are learning to mourn the death of their loved ones. For
more information, visit
www.johgriefsupport.org.
Believing in the power to heal while grieving
McKinney Courier-Gazette
By Brandi Hart
Helping people learn how to successfully cope with grief after
losing a loved one and knowing there is hope and people who can
help them is what Mark Hundley hopes to achieve at his lecture
Tuesday night.
The McKinney North High School counselor will speak from 6:30 to
8:30 p.m. in his free lecture titled “Believe in the Journey,”
which will talk about the phases of grief.
He helped start the Journey of Hope Grief Support Center in
Plano, which opened in June 1998.
The purpose of the center is to provide support at no cost for
children, teens and their families as they learn to mourn the
death of a loved one in a safe, caring and nurturing
environment.
Hundley wanted to start a grief support center after his first
wife, Christy died Jan. 24, 1989, in a single-car accident while
driving to work at Plano East Senior High.
“That left me to be the dad of a 7-year-old daughter. There were
no organizations here at the time. The Dougy Center in Portland,
Ore., was the first grief counseling center in the nation,”
Hundley said.
“There is a difference in grief counseling and grief support.
The support end of it is a wonderful place where families can go
to twice a month and be a part of an event to sit with other
families who are experiencing the same thing. We started with 24
families and now we serve 3,500 people,” Hundley said.
People would drive from Gainesville and Wichita Falls and from
surrounding cities, such as Anna, Frisco and McKinney, to get
help from Journey of Hope Grief Support Center, Hundley said.
He's been a licensed counselor for 13 years and will draw on the
things he's learned and from personal experience to help others
Tuesday night.
“There is a misconception in businesses, schools and society
that when you get to a certain stage of grieving that you're OK.
I prefer to focus on phases of grief. People think that with
grief resolution that when you get to a certain point that it's
fixed and you put everything into a little box and don't deal
with it. You have to look at grief resolution as grief
reconciliation where you're reconciling yourself with those
changes,” Hundley said. “That's not going to be the last loss
you ever have.”
Grief is the sum total of all the experiences and emotions
someone goes through when someone dies, such as anger, fear,
sadness, crying, sleeping too much, not sleeping enough, eating
problems, anxiety attacks, and the questioning of your spiritual
component, Hundley said.
People heal through the mourning process, he said.
“The healing is the mourning part and you have to find a way to
express your emotions in an open, public manner through creative
ways or physical activities, such as walking, running, sports,
gardening, or getting a therapeutical massage. Mourning is a
process and not an event. It's individual. Everyone will heal in
different ways and at different rates,” Hundley said.
Helping others through their times of mourning and grief and
letting people know that they are not alone and can talk to
others who are sharing the same pain and situation is what
Hundley hopes people remember.
“That's the philosophy of the Journey of Hope, that we really
are companions to their family and we have to believe in the
power of the person,” Hundley said.
He's been a counselor, author, corporate trainer, and used the
song “Believe” from his longtime friend and former college
roommate Ronnie Dunn's band, Brooks and Dunn, for inspiration
for Tuesday night's event.
The song is about the power of an elderly man's faith and that
he will meet his loved ones after he dies.
“I don't think there has been a day since June 27, 2005, when I
heard it on their bus that day that I haven't listened to it. It
talks about making a connection with the journey inside you -
the personal journey and your journey with others,” Hundley
said.
Autographed Brooks and Dunn memorabilia, including an
autographed guitar for the grand prize, T-shirt, and “Hillbilly
Deluxe” CD will be offered in an auction at the event.
For more information, visit the Journey of Hope Grief Support
Center's Web site www.johgriefsupport.org/believe or call
972-964-1600.
Contact Brandi Hart at
hartb@acnpapers.com. |
Believe in the Journey
Dallas Morning News
|
'BELIEVE IN THE JOURNEY,' a
presentation by Journey of Hope Grief Support Center, will be
from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday at McKinney North High School,
2550 Wilmeth Road. Visit www.johgrief support.org. |
|
