Camp helps kids grieve for a parent killed in war

[ClayZ]

FORT LEWIS -- Kaylee Sharp-Henderson had been silent much of the morning, and now she was avoiding, with all her 8-year-old might, directions to write down what made her feel sad. Or angry. Or scared.

Around the table, the other children in her group bent their heads over their construction paper and made furtive lists with colored markers.


Scott Eklund / P-I
Kaylee Sharp-Henderson, 8, is comforted by Sgt. 1st Class William Harlan of Fort Lewis and by Gail Kriete, a volunteer with the non-profit Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, which conducted a "Good Grief Camp" on Saturday at the fort. The program attempts to help children like Kaylee, whose father was killed three months ago by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan, come to terms with their feelings.
When they were finished, Tina Saari, the group leader, handed each child a small tin of Play-Doh.

Kaylee wadded the clay into a ball.

"This is the Iraqi that killed my dad," she said, her voice rising as her fists pummeled the clay into a flat pancake. "I hate you, I hate you. I hate you."

The other children hammered at their own piles of clay, and in a flurry of pounding, they smashed out feelings of grief only the smallest casualties of war could know.

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http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/332836_grief24.html