When a husband or wife dies, the surviving spouse remains to navigate everyday life in a manner significantly different than what he or she is accustomed to, in addition to dealing with the grief of loss. Ten years ago, Hixson Funeral Home, under the Dignity Memorial brand umbrella, launched the L.I.F.T. program to help widows and widowers. L.I.F.T. is the acronym for Living Information For Today.

“It’s not grief counseling. We don’t tell you how to grieve,” said Jody Barrilleaux, Hixson-Dignity Memorial  L.I.F.T. Director. “It’s a social program. Social is the keyword, and the goal is to get folks out of the house to connect and to make new friends.”

One hundred people attended that first L.I.F.T. meeting on April 13, according to Barrilleaux. John Ieyoub did his Elvis impersonation.

“We knew we had to go big at this first meeting,” Barrilleaux said. “They couldn’t help falling in love with Elvis. He hit it out of the park.”

Since that first meeting, the spirits of more than 600 widows and widowers have been “uplifted” thanks to L.I.F.T. Anita McMorris started taking her 90-year-old mother to the program at the suggestion of a friend.

“My mother loves hearing Jody (Barrilleaux) sing,” said McMorris. “My mother can’t sing all that well, but she does sing  and she gets out in the aisle with her walker and dances. I honestly think it has added years to her life, and I have no doubt it’s added life to her years.”

Everyone deals with loss in different ways and “moves” on in their own time, and it can be possible to find joy and new meaning in life after a painful loss, according to National Council on Aging experts.

Seeing the looks on the face of the Wednesday program participants confirm it. Bill Sellers started the L.I.F.T. program a few years ago. He continues to go for the camaraderie and to get together with new friends Adley LeBleu and Bernadine Abshire.

Wednesday, Feb. 1, the meeting was held in DeQuincy, where Dignity Memorial Hixson Snider Funeral Home is located. It was cold and wet outside. That didn’t stop the 40 or so widows and widowers who showed up to celebrate life.

This meeting was at a popular DeQuincy eatery. Participants paid a set amount for their meal, in this case $7. Hixson picks up the rest of the tab. There’s always entertainment. This meeting included music from Barrilleaux, a program from the West Harbor Hospice Chaplain Shelly Young and BINGO and prizes from the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Department. Other prizes included a $100 gift certificate from Pumpelly Tire in Sulphur.

  Rita Quinn said coming to L.I.F.T. makes her happy.

“It was hard for a while when my husband died,” she said. “I felt lost. Jody (Barrilleaux) and the others I’ve met helped put a smile back on my face.”

February L.I.F.T. 2023 meetings are scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 8, Moss Bluff/Westlake; Wednesday, Feb. 15 in Sulphur and Wednesday, Feb. 22 in Lake Charles. Start time is 10 a.m. For more information and to find out about special L.I.F.T. planning to commemorate the group’s 10 years, call 337-439-2446.