David Pierce, President; Chairman of the Board
Judy Pierce, Secretary; Board of Directors

David and Judy Pierce of Fort Myers, Florida, created Friends Along the Road after the death of Lilli, their only child and best friend. With Lilli gone, Dave and Judy no longer wanted to live. Nevertheless, they managed to hang on. In May of 2000 they quit their jobs and embarked on a two-year journey through the back roads of the U.S. and Canada to see if they could find reasons to keep living. After visiting with family members, meeting many friends old and new, and doing much soul-searching, Dave and Judy came to realize that they had learned a few things about grief. Knowing that everybody dies, and that all us suffer the loss of loved ones, the couple finally found something worth living for: helping others in deep grief. The story of their journey is chronicled in David's book, "Looking for Lilli: Living With the Death of Our Only Child" (click here for condensed version).

In 2002, Dave and Judy embraced the philosophy of caring support. Finding that there are many misconceptions about grieving, they came to understand that grief is an entirely personal experience, and that no one has the right to suggest how another ought to experience it. Dave found that catch-phrases such as "time heals all," and "just pour yourself into your work and you'll feel better," were often hurtful rather than helpful. Further, they questioned the notion of "being healed" when it applies to the deepest forms of grieving, which may not always be helped by orthodox psychological triage. The idea of "being healed" of a loved one's death can even be insulting to those who have lost their precious friend! Knowing that we are the sum of our experiences, grief included, and that to "get beyond" a loved one's death is a form of denying critical experience, Dave and Judy considered the idea of transformational grieving - of allowing our grief to make us into new, and possibly more sympathetic, people. They found that popular TV and radio counseling approaches focused on "process" and "closure" can be damaging to those who hurt so badly over a loved one's death that they may not even wish to live. However, they were encouraged by finding wonderful professional counseling organizations and healing networks that adhere to the ideas of safety, comfort, and unconditional positive regard. Dave and Judy realized that sometimes, the best thing one can do for a person in deep grief is to offer safe and comfortable places. That's why they created Friends Along the Road: to make such places available, and to be able to recommend similar places created by others.

J. Christopher Graham, Ph.D, Vice President for Research and Evaluation; Board of Directors

Dr. J. Christopher Graham was awarded his doctoral degree in Social Psychology from the University of Texas at Austin and subsequently held a postdoctoral fellowship from the National Institutes of Health (for studying chronic neglect of children). He is a member of Sigma Xi (the scientific research society), The Association for Psychological Science, The Society for Personality and Social Psychology, and The American Statistical Association. As a statistician, consultant, and member of the Child Welfare Research Group of the School of Social Work at the University of Washington, he conducts applied research in the related fields of family violence, child and adolescent development, systemic crisis intervention, risk assessment and decision making. Among other reports, Dr. Graham is an author of The Texas Child Fatality Study (TDPRS, 1998). He has been a consultant to DePelchin Children's Center, Benedictine Health Resource Center, American Humane Association (Children's Services). His professional contributions have been recognized by his inclusion in Who's Who in America and Who's Who in the World. As a way of promoting nonjudgmental grief support, he serves on the Board of Directors of Friends Along the Road. Apart from his professional life, he enjoys time with his family, cooking, reading, and walks in the woods or by the sea.

Giulia De Vivo, Board of Directors

Giulia De Vivo earned a degree in Foreign Languages from the Faculty of Arts and Philosophy of Salerno University in 1985, and worked for 13 years as an executive secretary for multinational companies. In 1999, in order to devote more time to her family, she became a freelance translator and interpreter. Thanks to her mixed heritage -- Italian, British and Czech -- Giulia excelled in the area of interpersonal communication. The emphasis of her work has always been on helping people understand one another.

Giulia has an inborn desire to research and experience the spiritual side of life. Over a three-year period she worked as a translator in events organized by the Spiritualist National Union in Stansted, UK, as well as in Italy, during which she got to know several hundred bereaved individuals, and developed a specific interest in grief and bereavement support. She has since devoted a substantial part of her free time to researching the subject and comforting the bereaved, irrespective of their cultural or religious backgrounds.

Sydnei Kaplan, Board of Directors

Sydnei Kaplan earned her BA degree in Psychology-Communication-Marketing from the University of Michigan in 1985. She continued on at U of M to get her MBA in 1987. After spending 10 years working in Marketing and Promotions, Sydnei left the corporate world to take on an even bigger challenge - being a mom. Sydnei is married to David Kaplan, they have 2 children and live in Riverwoods, Illinois. She spends a lot of time volunteering in the children's elementary school and helps David with his home-based Education Marketing business. In her free time she practices yoga, spends time with friends, and enjoys cooking and gardening.

Sydnei has been drawn to big questions about life - why we are here and what happens - next since she was a very young child. Like Giulia, Sydnei has a strong desire to learn about and experience the spiritual side of life. This passion was intensified in 2003 when her mom passed away and she tried to make sense of this painful loss. Her searching led her to Dave and Judy and their Lilli Pierce and the Big Trip BBS, where she made precious friends and met others who understood what she was going through. This, in turn, led her to the FAR BBS, where people came to share their stories of loss and grief. Now, as a member of the FAR Board, Sydnei hopes to help Dave and Judy help FAR reach its full potential, and reach many more people.