Mick...Send Me A Butterfly

The story of the life of Michael Grennan and the love Mick brought to all who knew him.

The story of the life of Michael Grennan and the love Mick brought to all who knew him. Lorraine Grennan, a devoted and caring mother, has written of her love for her son Mick and the sad years after his death. Her frank story will strike a chord with bereaved parents everywhere as they struggle with their own challenges of grief. Lorraine was eventually able to channel her love for Mick into founding the Murwillumbah Chapter of The Compassionate Friends, offering caring support and understanding friendship to the many bereaved parents in her area.

Lorraine Grennan was born in Murwillumbah New South Wales Australia in 1940. Lorraine, her brother and two sisters were educated at Condong Primary School, Mt St Patrick’s Primary & High School Murwillumbah New South Wales. Lorraine married in 1958 and raised five children. A dedicated mother with a strong faith, she is devastated when her son Michael is diagnosed with Chronic Myloid Leukaemia in 1981. Lorraine relates her journey throughout Mick’s illness, and is astounded at his strength, wisdom, maturity, understanding and acceptance of death. He teaches his family, friends and all those around him, that dying is ‘okay’. In August 1982, Mick learns he has just three weeks to live, so plans his own ‘wake’, celebrating his life with family and friends, hoping to ease the process for his parents, siblings and his mates. Concerned for his siblings, and the effect his death will have, he pleads with his Mum, “Promise me Mum, you will DOUBLY look after the boys for me when I go. Please be gentle with them.” Mick is blessed with more than “three weeks”. A second “Dad n Dave” Cricket Match eventuates in February 1983 at home in the back yard, with family, friends and mates enjoying the day, knowing Mick’s time is drawing close. On the 23th March 1983, Mick loses his battle with Leukaemia. Nothing prepares Lorraine and her family for the grief following Michael’s death. Lorraine’s ‘diary’ evolves into an open and frank account of Mick’s journey and her grief path … ‘an education on the grief of a parent’. “Am I going mad, or are these feelings normal?” She learns … they are normal! The International organization of “The Compassionate Friends” becomes her lifesaver, and Lorraine later becomes the lifesaver for hundreds of bereaved parents throughout her twenty years of phone counseling, monthly meetings and Annual Christmas Luncheons for ‘her bereaved parents’. In 2010, Lorraine’s compassionate work is recognized when she is honoured with the presentation of the local “Citizen of the Year Award” in her Tweed District. The subsequent publicity draws even more bereaved parents to her. Grief is a personal journey, fraught with unexpected and unfamiliar emotions. This book lays bare the raw emotions of a parent’s grief.