Solano County’s chapter of the Compassionate Friends will join a virtual 24-hour “wave of light” next month at the 18th annual Worldwide Candle Lighting event to honor the memories of sons, daughters and other relatives who have died.

Solano Chapter Leader Vesta Thompson, who lost her 28-year-old son, David Wilson, in a motorcycle accident, is among many in Solano County for whom the holidays are reminders that loved ones no longer will be part of family celebrations.

Compassionate Friends Worldwide began the candle lighting custom 18 years ago, asking people to light a candle for one hour in the honor of children, siblings and grandchildren who have died.

In each time zone, candles are lit at 7 p.m. local time. Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to participate this year in what Thompson, a Fairfield resident, described as possibly “the largest mass candle lighting on the globe.”

She called the practice “a gift to the bereavement community.”

The custom started in the United States in 1977 as a small Internet observance, she said. Since then, it has grown throughout the world.

Each year, formal services take place in all 50 states as well as in Washington, and the event has spread to at least 15 other countries.

In addition to those hundreds of formal candle lighting events that take place worldwide, she said thousands of informal candle lightings happen in homes where families have chosen to have quiet remembrances of children who have died, “but will never be forgotten.”

Thompson added, “This candle lighting transcends all ethnic, cultural, religious and political boundaries.”

She said the holidays are particularly painful times for bereaved families, and the candles can be a way of showing that they still have love for the departed.

“This is the one time that our doors are open to all who have suffered a loss of a loved one this year,” she said. “This event is also open to all professionals, such as the medical community, hospices, first responders, clergy and so forth, who help families deal with loss.”

The Compassionate Friends is the world’s largest self-help bereavement organization.

Its national website, www.compassionatefriends.org, posted information on more than the 550 services submitted to its website last year, and may receive information on even more events this year, Thompson said.

The website also has a Remembrance Book that is likely to receive thousands of posted tributes from family members and others in a 24-hour-period, she said.

Solano County’s formal Compassionate Friends Candle Lighting will start at 6 p.m. Dec. 14 at The Hampton Inn and Suites, 800 Mason St., Vacaville, where music, readings and a video presentation will accompany the lighting. Refreshments will be served, and those attending are being asked to bring a framed photograph of their child to put on the memory tables that will be set up around the room.

Those interested in contacting the Solano County Chapter of the Compassionate Friends may call Thompson at 707-208-0736 or email her at tcfsolanoco@gmail.com.

The national organization can be reached toll-free 877-969-0010 or via TCF’s national website, www.compassionatefriends.org.

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