{"id":156162,"date":"2021-04-21T13:05:08","date_gmt":"2021-04-21T17:05:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/?p=156162"},"modified":"2021-04-22T09:25:40","modified_gmt":"2021-04-22T13:25:40","slug":"seniors-meet-needs-in-bereavement-group","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/seniors-meet-needs-in-bereavement-group\/","title":{"rendered":"Seniors Meet Needs in Bereavement Group"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

\"\"
Mike Chernoff and Rhea Applebaum
Courtesy of Rhea Applebaum<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When Rhea Applebaum joined a bereavement group in February of 2018, dating was the last thing on her mind.<\/span><\/p>\n

She had lost her husband to a sudden illness five months earlier and hadn\u2019t recovered from the shock. She met with about a dozen seniors who were also mourning their spouses and talked about how she felt like she was losing her memories of him, how she couldn\u2019t conjure his smell or the feeling of his arms around her anymore.<\/p>\n

Mike Chernoff had joined the group in July the previous year, after his beloved wife died. He and his dog felt lost without her.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember one of the saddest things was that he would run up the steps looking for her and not find her,\u201d he said. When the dog died soon after, he turned to his peers for support and met Applebaum once she started coming to meetings.<\/p>\n

The two Northeast Philadelphia residents got to know each other well in the intimate group setting and discovered they shared a love of reading and music. Eventually, Chernoff asked Applebaum to accompany him to a performance at the Philadelphia Orchestra, and she said yes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The bereavement group created by Abramson Senior Care and KleinLife greeted the couple\u2019s news with enthusiasm when they learned of the relationship. Members feel like a family, facilitator Brie Yousaitis said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The program was originally intended to serve seniors grieving the loss of a spouse, and later expanded to include people mourning other kinds of loss. It now acts as a general support group for all kinds of issues, from dealing with the fear and isolation of the pandemic to navigating relationship problems.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince everybody started coming, we\u2019ve lost children, animals, relationships have started and ended,\u201d said Yousaitis, director of psychosocial support for hospice and palliative care at Abramson Senior Care. \u201cSo we\u2019ve been through a lot, obviously also with the pandemic as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

When the KleinLife facilities closed at the beginning of the pandemic, the group had to change course. Simply moving the meetings to Zoom was not an option due to technological challenges for older members, Yousaitis said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

They decided to restart in August and hold meetings outside instead. Chernoff volunteered his lawn, but as this was only viable in good weather, they had to stop meeting again in November. They kept in touch via text and social media, but processing loss and the challenges of life during the pandemic just wasn\u2019t the same without face-to-face interaction.<\/p>\n

Six members of the group, five of whom are Jewish, reunited at Chernoff\u2019s house after months of separation on April 8. They brought lawn chairs and fully vaccinated immune systems.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Yousaitis said socializing is especially important for the senior population, which was already facing isolation due to decreased social activity, leaving work and deaths of loved ones. Then COVID-19 cut them off from family and friends. While romantic relationships can certainly take off in support group settings, most participants join to find solace in friendships at a time when their support networks may not be as strong as they used to be.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen they lose their significant other or someone really close, it\u2019s like losing part of your own self. You have to find yourself again. The way to do this is socializing with others,\u201d she said. \u201cAs we get older, we lose daily connections with people. There\u2019s no more work, sometimes family is not close or you have a global pandemic. Friends are passing or live far away, so the socialization is so huge.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to reaping the benefits of camaraderie from the support group, Applebaum and Chernoff have been together for three and a half years now.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just love the kindness of him, his intelligence, how good he is to everyone around him,\u201d Applebaum said. Chernoff said his favorite things about Applebaum are her personality and the ways she embraces Judaism.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Applebaum introduced Chernoff to her family and they welcomed him with open arms. Her grandchildren and great-grandchildren now know him as Saba Mike.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is the only great-grandfather that they will know,\u201d she said. \u201cHe came for the first Chanukah with the kids and didn\u2019t leave.\u201d<\/p>\n

spanzer@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0729<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  When Rhea Applebaum joined a bereavement group in February of 2018, dating was the last thing on her mind. She had lost her husband to a sudden illness five months earlier and hadn\u2019t recovered from the shock. She met with about a dozen seniors who were also mourning their spouses and talked about how […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13317,"featured_media":156163,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,50],"tags":[],"section":[],"coauthors":[12870],"yoast_head":"\nSeniors Meet Needs in Bereavement Group - Jewish Exponent<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/seniors-meet-needs-in-bereavement-group\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Seniors Meet Needs in Bereavement Group - Jewish Exponent\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"  When Rhea Applebaum joined a bereavement group in February of 2018, dating was the last thing on her mind. She had lost her husband to a sudden illness five months earlier and hadn\u2019t recovered from the shock. She met with about a dozen seniors who were also mourning their spouses and talked about how […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/seniors-meet-needs-in-bereavement-group\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Jewish Exponent\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jewishexponent\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-04-21T17:05:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-04-22T13:25:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/mike-and-rhea-scaled.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1623\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sophie Panzer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@jewishexponent\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@jewishexponent\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sophie Panzer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/seniors-meet-needs-in-bereavement-group\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/seniors-meet-needs-in-bereavement-group\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Sophie Panzer\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/#\/schema\/person\/da0c7228880f110ea7f39a2b15556504\"},\"headline\":\"Seniors Meet Needs in Bereavement Group\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-04-21T17:05:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-04-22T13:25:40+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/seniors-meet-needs-in-bereavement-group\/\"},\"wordCount\":728,\"commentCount\":1,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/seniors-meet-needs-in-bereavement-group\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/mike-and-rhea-scaled.jpeg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Local\",\"Seniors\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/seniors-meet-needs-in-bereavement-group\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/seniors-meet-needs-in-bereavement-group\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/seniors-meet-needs-in-bereavement-group\/\",\"name\":\"Seniors Meet Needs in Bereavement Group - Jewish Exponent\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/seniors-meet-needs-in-bereavement-group\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/seniors-meet-needs-in-bereavement-group\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/mike-and-rhea-scaled.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-04-21T17:05:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-04-22T13:25:40+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/seniors-meet-needs-in-bereavement-group\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/seniors-meet-needs-in-bereavement-group\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/seniors-meet-needs-in-bereavement-group\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/mike-and-rhea-scaled.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/mike-and-rhea-scaled.jpeg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1623,\"caption\":\"Mike and Rhea Applebaum Courtesy of Rhea Applebaum\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/seniors-meet-needs-in-bereavement-group\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Seniors Meet Needs in Bereavement Group\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/\",\"name\":\"Jewish Exponent\",\"description\":\"What It Means To Be Jewish In Philadelphia\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Jewish Exponent\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/JE-Logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/JE-Logo.png\",\"width\":700,\"height\":86,\"caption\":\"Jewish Exponent\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jewishexponent\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/jewishexponent\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/jewishexponent\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/#\/schema\/person\/da0c7228880f110ea7f39a2b15556504\",\"name\":\"Sophie Panzer\",\"description\":\"Sophie Panzer grew up in New Jersey and earned her B.A. at McGill University. She has worked at the Jewish Exponent since February 2020.\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Seniors Meet Needs in Bereavement Group - Jewish Exponent","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/seniors-meet-needs-in-bereavement-group\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Seniors Meet Needs in Bereavement Group - Jewish Exponent","og_description":"  When Rhea Applebaum joined a bereavement group in February of 2018, dating was the last thing on her mind. She had lost her husband to a sudden illness five months earlier and hadn\u2019t recovered from the shock. She met with about a dozen seniors who were also mourning their spouses and talked about how […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/seniors-meet-needs-in-bereavement-group\/","og_site_name":"Jewish Exponent","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jewishexponent","article_published_time":"2021-04-21T17:05:08+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-04-22T13:25:40+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1623,"url":"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/mike-and-rhea-scaled.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Sophie Panzer","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@jewishexponent","twitter_site":"@jewishexponent","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Sophie Panzer","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/seniors-meet-needs-in-bereavement-group\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/seniors-meet-needs-in-bereavement-group\/"},"author":{"name":"Sophie Panzer","@id":"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/#\/schema\/person\/da0c7228880f110ea7f39a2b15556504"},"headline":"Seniors Meet Needs in Bereavement Group","datePublished":"2021-04-21T17:05:08+00:00","dateModified":"2021-04-22T13:25:40+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/seniors-meet-needs-in-bereavement-group\/"},"wordCount":728,"commentCount":1,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/seniors-meet-needs-in-bereavement-group\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/mike-and-rhea-scaled.jpeg","articleSection":["Local","Seniors"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/seniors-meet-needs-in-bereavement-group\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/seniors-meet-needs-in-bereavement-group\/","url":"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/seniors-meet-needs-in-bereavement-group\/","name":"Seniors Meet Needs in Bereavement Group - Jewish Exponent","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/seniors-meet-needs-in-bereavement-group\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/seniors-meet-needs-in-bereavement-group\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/mike-and-rhea-scaled.jpeg","datePublished":"2021-04-21T17:05:08+00:00","dateModified":"2021-04-22T13:25:40+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/seniors-meet-needs-in-bereavement-group\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/seniors-meet-needs-in-bereavement-group\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/seniors-meet-needs-in-bereavement-group\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/mike-and-rhea-scaled.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/mike-and-rhea-scaled.jpeg","width":2560,"height":1623,"caption":"Mike and Rhea Applebaum Courtesy of Rhea Applebaum"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/seniors-meet-needs-in-bereavement-group\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Seniors Meet Needs in Bereavement Group"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/","name":"Jewish Exponent","description":"What It Means To Be Jewish In Philadelphia","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/#organization","name":"Jewish Exponent","url":"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/JE-Logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/JE-Logo.png","width":700,"height":86,"caption":"Jewish Exponent"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jewishexponent","https:\/\/x.com\/jewishexponent","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/jewishexponent\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/#\/schema\/person\/da0c7228880f110ea7f39a2b15556504","name":"Sophie Panzer","description":"Sophie Panzer grew up in New Jersey and earned her B.A. at McGill University. She has worked at the Jewish Exponent since February 2020."}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156162"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13317"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=156162"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156162\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/156163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=156162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=156162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=156162"},{"taxonomy":"section","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/section?post=156162"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=156162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}