Horizon’s Life Lights Candlelit Stroll Offers a Time and Place to Share, Grieve, and Celebrate

Loss and grief are a fundamental part of life that touches almost all of us, and in many different ways. From major traumatic events - such the recent shootings at the Sikh Temple in Oak Creek and the movie theater in Aurora, Colorado - to all those mothers, fathers, grandparents, sisters, brothers, and friends who don’t make news headlines, everyone is touched by loss.

Celebrate the lives of loved ones lost at Horizon Home Care & Hospice’s 6th annual Life Lights event, which includes a one-mile sunset stroll lit with 1,500 luminaries, a candle lighting ceremony and memorial slide show. This uplifting memorial event, which brings people together to support one another and continue the healing process, will be held at the Milwaukee County Zoo, 10001 West Bluemound Rd., Friday evening September 7. To address the collective grief of our community in the wake of the August 5 Sikh Temple shootings in Oak Creek, there will be a special moment of silence to acknowledge the lives lost and the families left behind.

“Our culture perpetuates a myth that we ‘get over’ our grief after a certain amount of time, but that’s not true,” said Mary Haynor, President and CEO of Horizon. “Life Lights helps continue the healing process after a loss – whether that loss happened a few weeks ago or many years ago – by offering a special time and place to remember and honor and connect with loved ones no longer with us.”

Community members, whether or not able to attend, are invited to submit photos of loved ones and pets for the Celebration of Life slide show. Email photos to LifeLights@hhch.net or by mail to Horizon Home Care & Hospice, Attention: Life Lights, 8949 N. Deerbrook Trail, Brown Deer, WI, 53223. Photos will be returned, and the deadline for photo submissions is August 31. Life Lights also includes a letter writing station where attendees can write notes to loved ones and deposit the notes in a box that will be kept at Horizon’s Grief Resource Center throughout the year.

Advance tickets for Life Lights are $20 adults and $10 children age 10 and younger until August 31 and increase by $5 beginning September 1. Purchase tickets at www.horizonhch.org/lifelights or call (414) 586-8360. Tickets will be sold on-site for $25 for adults and $15 for children. Ticket prices include parking and admission, live music by Kyle Feerick and Friday Fish Fry or children’s meal. Funds raised support Horizon’s charity care program.

The evening begins with dinner from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., followed by the candlelit sunset stroll, Celebration of Life candle lighting ceremony and slide show.

Horizon Home Care & Hospice, a non-profit organization, is one of the state’s largest licensed, full service home care agency and hospice providers. Visit www.horizonhch.com.