When it comes to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, we are so often only exposed to images of the fighting and inevitably, the funerals. What seems absent from our television screens and newspapers on most days, is the aftermath for children. Kids who are now without a father or mother and struggling with a new life they never wished for. There is no Sesame Street or Hannah Montana episode that can adequately comfort them and help them realize they are not alone.

Enter the Good Grief Camp. It’s a program put on by a non-profit organization called T.A.P.S. (Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors-more information can be found at www.taps.org).

I was fortunate enough to spend some time at the camp this Memorial Day weekend and see first hand the kind of healing that takes place there. This year, the camp had 350 children sharing their emotions, with an equally impressive 350 mentors. The mentors are almost all active duty military volunteering their time. The participants, all missing a parent and for the first time in many cases, sharing their feelings with kids the same age and with the same terrible circumstance in common.

It is remarkable.

I met 16 year old Jen Suplee and her mentor 24 year old Staff Sergeant Jorge Cortijo.

She lost her dad in Afghanistan. He has seen too many of his colleagues find rest at Arlington National Cemetery. The two were paired up, like the rest of the service members and sometimes emotionally fragile children. And looking at them and the rest of the groups for that matter, it made such sense. Why I thought, wasn’t this program even larger? Why was I just hearing about it now?

“If you lost a father” Jen explained, “There’s gonna be ten other people in your group who lost a father. Basically it tries to open you up and say that it’s okay to talk about it. It’s okay to grieve.”

Still putting on a strong face she said, “I’ve cried a few times. It does get emotional but it’s still good to cry. It feels good afterward.”

She and the other children said what makes Good Grief so effective, is ironically, the numbers. There are so many people who are feeling the same way that it’s actually comforting.

 The new friendships, the time playing games, drawing, sharing….crying…all of it is necessary to the healing process. Trips around town to see the monuments, and the cemetery are also offered for those interested.

For Jen, it is her third year at Good Grief camp and it seems to have had a significant impact. Just 16 she appears confident and carefree…but talking about the dog tags on her neck that her father sent her from Afghanistan before he died (inscribed: With Love, From Dad. U.S. Army Afghanistan 2006) reminded me that inside that tiny frame is still a girl who misses her daddy. A lot. And that grief can indeed be good, very good.

Especially here.