Members of Sister Keepers of Valleyview pose for a photo at their most recent meeting.

By Jamie Kelly, Bulletin editor
Sister Keepers, a women’s group at Valleyview Presbyterian Church in Garfield, is an example of how something positive can come from a painful experience.
Founded by Phyllis Connor, a member of the church, it was inspired by difficult times she found herself in about seven years ago. At the time, she was dealing with abuse at the hands of her husband of 40 years.
As she dealt with the pain and loneliness, she found comfort in her church community.
“At that age, your kids are grown, they’re going on, and you’re by yourself in a house,” Connor said. “And I had to deal with that crying and loneliness, and the only one I had to talk to was really the church.”
The experience left its mark, and she wanted to do something to help other people going through what she did.
“It came to me that there’s more women out there like me, and up here in Garfield, there’s no outlet that you can go to,” she said.
So she decided to create one. And so Sister Keepers was born.
The group is for women dealing with any kind of loss or grief, and its motto, “Together in Faith, Growing in Strength and Uplifting Each Other,” shows its roots in religious faith.
The group meets the third Saturday of each month at 3 p.m. and each meeting includes food, prayer, fellowship and a chance for the women to share what they’re going through.
The group has had guests come in to speak about women’s health issues like menopause, as well as other topics, and in July the group got together to dance to the hit “Boots on the Ground.”
“We wanted the group to have fun, because that will keep us coming back,” Connor said. “Because we deal with the pain and the agony and the cries. I mean, we have, we have cried. We’re going to cry more. But that bonds us.”
That bond makes the women feel safe enough to share what they’re going through with the group, to ask for advice, to ask for prayers or just to express themselves.
“So they come in here, and I sit there and I wait and I pray and I wait, and I just wait for the women to share,” Connor said. “When they share it just makes me feel so good. It’s just like, “˜Oh, my God, thank you, Jesus.'”
To find out more about the group, call Valleyview at 412-361-0870 or contact Connor at 412-576-1706.