Surrounded by the community’s adversity and anguish, Cynthia Long Lasher serves as a guiding force for those coping with one of life’s more delicate matters —loss, something each of us will face during our lifetime.
On Lasher’s office wall hangs a memory blanket made from cloth of her father’s frequently worn khaki pants and blue oxford shirt alongside memorabilia from his favorite football team. A poem written by her 9-year-old niece sits in a frame. These decorations serve to honor Lasher’s father, who died from cancer less than two years ago. She peers up at the blanket and begins to smile.
“We were very close,” she says. “My father taught me to be self-sufficient and independent.”
Lasher and her father explored religion together. This exploration provided her with a path of learning and service that ultimately led to her work as a grief specialist in Harrisonburg.
| From the Author: For many, birth, marriage, graduating from college and beginning a career are inevitable benchmarks in our lives, however we often lose sight that death is just as much of an inevitability as life. But as inevitable as it may be, the loss of a loved one is a tremendously emotional hardship. To ease us through these more difficult times, Cynthia Long Lasher, a grief specialist gives residents of the Shenandoah Valley someone to turn to. Her work is unique as she not only works with those who are bereaved, but she also extends herself to educate young, college students about death and loss as a teacher at James Madison University. From the classroom to group counseling sessions Lasher guides people to accept death as just another part of life. |
Contact Cynthia Long Lasher:
Shenandoah Valley Grief Center
272 Newman Ave.
Harrisonburg, VA 22801
540-434-8450