Grief affects everyone differently. Some people want to talk about it while others don’t. Some people want to cry; others don’t.

Some people want to eat their way through grief. Some people just want life to go on and some people just can’t seem to get to that point.

Regardless of how a person reacts to grief, the one thing that all people have in common is that everyone experiences grief. And, everyone has to experience grief in his or her own way.

That was Dianna Lee’s introduction to the guest speaker, Dr. John Brannon, at Wednesday’s Female Factor at The Studio in downtown Troy.

Brannon, a former pastor at First Methodist Church in Troy, is currently serving a small church in Elmore County. He is also a religion professor at Huntingdon College in Montgomery. Brannon leads a grief support group at Green Hills Funeral Home at 4 p.m. every second Sunday. The support groups meetings are open to all who are dealing with the grief of the loss of a loved one.

Brannon said no one is void of grief and, even though, most people find a way to deal with their grief in a personal way, there is also a need for a time of talking and fellowship with people that have been through or are going through the same feelings, emotions and life changes.

“Good grief, in context, is how we move from the loss of someone we love to picking up the pieces and finding the new normal,” Brannon said. “This is very important and there are several ways that we do this.”

Brannon said everyone grieves at his or her own pace.

“There is not prescribed time to move on,” he said. “Everyone moves from grief in different times.”

He quoted Ecclesiastes Chapter 3: To everything there is a season … a time to be born and a time to die … a time to laugh and a time to mourn.

“There are times when we need family and friends to surround us and share in our grief,” Brannon said. “And, we must have faith in that all we see in the world is not all there is. There is more than what we see. We must accept and understand our own mortality. We will all die and leave behind the folks we love.”
Brannon said gratitude is the root grace that moves us all through the grieving process.

“The Bible speaks of treasures in earthen vessels,” Brannon said. “Those vessels are the remembrance of the stories of those who became a part of our lives.”

Troy Regional Medical Center CEO Ronnie Dean also spoke at Wednesday’s Female Factor. Dean said Wednesday was his 17th day on the job at TRMC.

“I am delighted to be at Troy Regional Medical Center,” he said. “Being at Southeast Alabama Medical Center, I was familiar with Troy Regional Medical Center but I didn’t really know Troy until now.”

Dean said TRMC and Southeast Alabama Medical Center are not unlike each other.

“They both started as small hospitals and with Hill Burton funding,” he said. “I understand that Dr. Edge (O.N.) donated his hospital to the city so it would be able to access Hill Burton funds to build this hospital.”

Dean said both hospitals had similar beginning and have a similar purpose.

“People come to Troy Regional Medical Center because we are here,” he said. “They come as family members, as friends, as strangers and we wrap our arms around them and make them well.”

Dean said TRMC has extremely talented and qualified physicians and a remarkable team from volunteers to housekeeping to doctors.

“Our goal is to have the best place for people to come because health care is precious,” he said.