Please go to the "Meetings" page and click on the links for maps of the church location and of the building.

The June meeting will be on June 16th which will be the 3rd Monday in June.

Held annually the second Sunday in December, this year December 9, The Compassionate Friends Worldwide Candle Lighting unites family and friends around the globe in lighting candles for one hour to honor and remember children who have died at any age from any cause. As candles are lit at 7 p.m. local time, hundreds of thousands of persons commemorate and honor children in a way that transcends all ethnic, cultural, religious, and political boundaries.

The Worldwide Candle Lighting is a gift from The Compassionate Friends to the bereavement community allowing us all to join together in unity to remember and honor the memories of all children so they may never be forgotten.

Believed to be the largest mass candle lighting on the globe, the Worldwide Candle Lighting creates a virtual 24-hour wave of light as it moves from time zone to time zone. Hundreds of formal candle lighting events are held and thousands of informal candle lightings are conducted in homes as families gather in quiet remembrance of special children to always be remembered.

The Worldwide Candle Lighting started in the United States in 1997 as a small Internet observance but, as it has been embraced by the bereavement community, has swelled in numbers as word has spread throughout the world of the remembrance. A memorial message board is available during the event at TCF's USA website http://www.compassionatefriends.org/. Thousands of postings are received each year from all over the United States, as well as dozens of other countries, with many messages in foreign languages.

Here in the United States, publicity about the event is widespread, being featured in the past in Parade Magazine, Ann Landers column, Guideposts magazine, Annie’s Mailbox, and literally hundreds of U.S. newspapers, dozens of television stations, and numerous websites. Information on the Worldwide Candle Lighting and planned memorial candle lighting services is posted on the TCF website at http://www.compassionatefriends.org/ each year as the event nears.

For many of the years of the Worldwide Candle Lighting, the United States Senate has joined in its observance through the unanimous passage of resolutions declaring the second Sunday in December National Children’s Memorial Day. TCF/USA appreciates our government’s understanding of what the Worldwide Candle Lighting means to so many.

If I may, allow me to introduce myself...

My name is Albert Tapia. I am Nicholas Tapia's father. He was 18 years old when he was killed in an automobile accident as a passenger in a car driven by an underage drunk driver on May 31, 2003. My wife Valerie and I were devastated.

We were introduced to TCF Katy by a friend and attended a meeting 2 weeks after the accident. I have attended ever since. I was asked to be the treasurer for the chapter the following year. I have served as treasurer for almost 3 years. I also was the contact for newly bereaved fathers. The leader and group helped me through. My own healing came as the result of helping others in loving memory of my son Nicholas. I say my healing but make no mistake, I will never be completely healed. We learn to adjust living without our children.

A tremendous need exists for TCF in the west Houston area. It is my goal, to be a group of listeners to those that are hurting. To create a monthly sanctuary for ourselves, the bereaved parents. A place to meet others like ourselves so we may open up and express our hurts and feelings. Or to attend and not say nothing at all. Listen to others share how they cope. Most of us are not able to learn how to cope with the tragedy due to the lack of a support group environment. We are justified in our grief and our overwhelming feelings are now an
unfortunate normal. We can help others know our experience and what they can expect. It does get better for a lack of better words. We know and feel the pain and are here to listen.

It will take the efforts of many to be a successful group. I have learned from my experience at the Katy chapter that many hands makes little work. We serve others in the loving memory of our children. Consider helping as a volunteer for an approximate amount of 3 to 4 hours a month (which includes the monthly meetings) in loving memory of your child.

May the memory of our children stay fresh in our minds and hearts forever.

Thank you.

Albert Tapia
(832) 563-4739
[ Note- Please leave a voice mail if I do not answer. I may be with a
client or on another line. I will return your call as soon as I am
able.]

I received sad news today that a classmate from High School lost her son Tyler Anthony Farrar on March 11, 2007. Tyler was a little over 18 years old when he passed. Visitation and Funeral Services will be at the First Baptist Church in Bay City, TX  this Wednesday and Thursday.  Please keep Tyler's family in your prayers as we know the journey they have begun.