Welcome to The Compassionate Friends, Fredericksburg, VA Chapter. We are sorry for the reason you have come to us, but we are glad you found us. THE COMPASSIONATE FRIENDS is an international self-help organization offering friendship and understanding to bereaved parents.

"The mission of The Compassionate Friends is to assist families in the positive resolution of grief following the death of a child and to provide information to help others be supportive."

Parents who have experienced the death of their child at any age are welcome to attend our meetings. There are no dues. If you are receiving our newsletter for the first time, it is because someone told us our sharing might comfort you. We meet the THIRD TUESDAY NIGHT of each month at 7:30 PM, at the Redeemer Lutheran Church, 5120 Harrison Road, Fredericksburg VA. If you have any questions, please call 540-775-8430 or email us!

We need not walk alone. We are The Compassionate Friends.
We reach out to each other with love, with understanding, and with hope.
The children we mourn have died at all ages and from many different causes,
but our love for them unites us.
Your pain becomes my pain, just as your hope becomes my hope.
We come together from all walks of life, from many different circumstances
We are a unique family because we represent many races, creeds, and relationships.
We are young, and we are old. Some of us are far along in our grief,
but others still feel a grief so fresh and so intensely painful that they feel helpless and see no hope.
Some of us have found our faith to be a source of strength, while some of us are struggling to find answers.
Some of us are angry, filled with guilt or in deep depression, while others radiate an inner peace.
But whatever pain we bring to this gathering of The Compassionate Friends,
it is pain we will share, just as we share with each other our love for the children who have died.
We are all seeking and struggling to build a future for ourselves,
but we are committed to building a future together.
We reach out to each other in love to share the pain as well as the joy,
share the anger as well as the peace, share the faith as well as the doubts,
and help each other to grieve as well as to grow.