Beyond the Pall
New Post Every Wednesday
  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact

The Band is Breaking Up

3/7/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
When I am not fighting the good fight for family’s rights in death, I drive a school bus.  I love the bus and it allows me to have enough free time to commit to my death work while I raise my family and care for my mom.  I have a full life.  I love it. On the bus I love listening to my little ones as they begin to put together ideas they have learned in school.  Sometimes what they say is so thought provoking because they see things from a fresh point-of-view.  I also enjoy how the bus route becomes a community.  Throughout the year and year to year, the route takes on an identity and hierarchy asserts itself, and I, as the driver, must be on the top of that hierarchy or chaos reigns on the bus.  The community on the bus is never stagnant.  Children graduate and move on, while new younger students arrive to fill their spots.  I find this all very fascinating.  I have a route which I have had for years.  This year, I had fewer stops than in previous years which made my mornings and afternoons easier, but also let me know that larger changes were coming.  The school year progressed as it always does, but by the end of January, I began to see some changes in behavior I had not seen in a long time.  Then last week one student left the route.  The following day, the other kids were more chatty than they had been in long time.  They let me know that more than a few would be leaving the school at the end of the year.  Then it hit me.   The “band was breaking up” and these kids were going through a grieving process.  Luckily for them, they have a driver who knows a thing or two about grief.  I was then able to read the situation for what it was—grief.  Once I was able to interpret their behavior, things settled done. Children feel things deeply, but might not always be able to express them in ways adults can understand.  We need to be open to what they have to tell us when they are ready to reveal their feelings. I am not a counselor on the bus, I drive them and keep them safe as best I can, but I can and do lend an ear to their concerns and they know that I listen to them.  Sometimes the kindest gift we can give- is to allow people the space and time to tell us what they need to when they are ready to tell us.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.



    RSS Feed

    Caroline Vuyadinov


    I graduated from St. Vladamir's Orthodox Theological Seminary in Crestwood, New York with a Master of Divinity.  I trained as a chaplain following graduation and worked with a wide variety of people. 

    When I moved to Canada, I began work in a women's halfway house in Hamilton, Ontario which worked with women in conflict with the law on a federal level.  I became the program manager and  loved working alongside the women, creating their plans for their reintegration back to the community.  I also worked as a liaison with the parole board, parole officers and other community service providers.

    Upon my return to the United States, I worked in the Death Care Industry as a Family Service Counselor, which lead me to become a green burial advocate. I co-founded Midwest Green Burial Society with Juliann Salinas. I speak  to community groups and have developed practical seminars for a variety of audiences.  I have been interviewed on a national podcast and was featured on a WGN spot dealing with green burial. 

    Archives

    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    May 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014

    Categories

    All
    Children's Graves
    Comunicalbe Disease And Burial Practice
    Cremation
    Cremation Urns
    Cultural Conflicts And Medical World
    Death Of A Child
    Depression
    Ebola
    Family Rights
    Fear Of Death
    Fr-thomas-hopko
    Funeral Laws
    Funeral Planning
    Garden Memorial
    Green Burial
    Grieving Parents
    Heirloom Seeds
    History
    Infant Death
    Live Streaming Funerals
    Mausoleums
    Memorial
    Memorialization
    No Embalming
    Non Religious
    Orthodox
    Orthodox Christian Grave Practices
    Pre Planning
    Pre-planning
    Remembering The Dead
    Serbian Cemetery Rites
    Suicide
    Tree-memorials
    Vaults
    Zito

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly