Hospice of the Piedmont hosts 31st Annual Memorial Illumination

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) - The holidays can be a challenging time of the year for those who are grieving.

Hospice of the Piedmont’s 31st Annual Memorial Illumination helped people in and around the Charlottesville community who had lost a loved one.

“We’ve all lost loved ones, you’re not in it alone,” said Ron Cottrell, President of Hospice of the Piedmont. “We’re sharing as a community to be able to bring a sense of peace through wonderful memories of the ones that are no longer here.”

One of these memories comes from a Hospice of the Piedmont volunteer, Katherine Nies, who lost her brother to colon cancer in 2013.

“It’s really difficult to feel like you belong anywhere. When you’re grieving, you’re always at the point of either wanting to cry or laugh or your emotion. You’re very raw and I wanted to go to a place that would allow me to just be myself,” said Nies. “I love that this service tries to get families together to recognize it’s okay to feel that empty space during the holidays you don’t have to have this is-- it’s okay to grieve. It’s okay to be sad. It’s okay to feel lonely.”

Thursday’s Memorial Illumination was the first in-person gathering since the COVID-19 pandemic.

For more information about the Hospice of the Piedmont and its resources, here is a link.

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