PITTSBURGH -- Since the Good Grief Bereavement Center opened its doors in 2001, it has assisted thousands of people who needed support and help in their grieving after a loved one has died.

During the harsh and inescapable phase of grief, the center said life can be compared to having constant motion sickness. But Good Grief officials said there's a way to deal with the pain.

Sue Abramson's husband died suddenly from a massive heart attack at work two years ago.

"I just felt like I was going crazy," she said. "I just couldn't believe my husband was dead, and I couldn't comprehend how I was going to get my life back together again."

She is among the 16,000 people who received help from Good Grief. And the center's new Squirrel Hill office provides thousands of resources on how to square up with grief.

Lulu Orr, a former hospice nurse who saw too many families trapped in a nauseating maze of grief following death, founded the center.

Orr said no circumstance is too delicate, even when children die. No matter the situation, Orr said, Good Grief's group sessions are a valuable instrument.

"Somebody might come in one week feeling like they've got the worse life going now and then they hear someone else's story and they say, 'You know what, mine is not so bad,'" said Orr. "And we've had many, many people come in here over the years who come back and say, 'I never believed you when you said I would be happen again.' And here they are happy again."

The Good Grief Bereavement Center is free to the public and offers group sessions every second and fourth Thursday of the month.

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