Pat O’Kane-Trombly used to love to sing. But after her 27-year-old son died on a training mission in Afghanistan in 2009, O’Kane-Trombly lost her voice.
“For a long time after Tom died, I couldn’t sing,” she said. “I think it is because Tom loved to sing; he used to lead the pilots in song by the campfire. Maybe that’s why it was so hard. I am starting to sing again.”
She is also painting. O’Kane-Trombly is a member of the Gold Star Mothers, a support group for mothers who lost sons and daughters in combat. “This is one club you don’t want to belong to,” said O’Kane-Trombly.
She attends a monthly art class at the Survivor Outreach Services (SOS) Center in Fort Carson. The class is part of programming provided by the center for families of fallen soldiers.
Clockwise from left: Tina Remillard, Pat O'Kane-Trombly, Kim Nguyen, Brittany Remillard.
To see more photos and art from the class, click here.
The class started after the Gold Star Mothers heard about AspenPointe’s art class collaboration with the Fine Arts Center in Colorado Springs. The group was so impressed with the class and its effects the members petitioned SOS to host a class for the families of fallen soldiers.
“If you want something done, you give it to the mothers who lost kids in the war; they will move mountains,” said AspenPointe art therapist Kim Nguyen.
The Survivor Outreach Services Center officially opened its doors Oct. 14. Named the “Fallen Heroes Family Center,” it provides an important link between survivors of fallen heroes and those who can help minimize the stress associated with losing a loved one. It is an enhanced, holistic and multi-agency approach to delivering services to survivors in the state of Colorado, Utah, North and South Dakota, and Wyoming.
On a recent Wednesday, Tina Remillard and her 17-year-old daughter, Brittany, joined Pat for art class. Remillard’s husband was killed in a car accident while en route to his post in Louisiana in 2009.
“When I am painting, I find I focus on the paper, on this area right here. It’s all there is,” Remillard said. “It is very relaxing to allow the brush to take itself where it wants to go, to let go.”
At the end of class, the group goes around and describes the painting, often deeper emotions are revealed. Remillard painted two trees transitioning from season to season. Nguyen suggested Remillard is finding great strength in this transition period and hope for the future.
“I want to move on,” she said with tears in her eyes. “I’m ready to move forward. But sometimes I feel like I have to stay where I am at for the family, for the kids.”
The group’s art, along with art from the Creative Expressions group, will be on display at an open house March 31. Click here for details.
Counseling