August 7–9, 2026 · Hartzell House · Addison, Pennsylvania
Opening to Feel
A weekend grief retreat for the people still showing up to their
lives — while quietly carrying everything.
A SMALL, INTIMATE GRIEF RETREAT
"Understanding grief changes how it feels to carry it."
You Know This Feeling
There is an ache you carry. You feel it when you wake up. You feel it when the room gets quiet. You feel it in the middle of conversations you’re only half present for.
You want to scream it out to the world. You want someone to finally know how much you’re holding. But you don’t. Because what would they think? What would they do with it?
So you get in your car. Alone. And you scream. And for that one moment — it feels good. It feels like release. Like maybe this time it worked.
But then.
Your throat hurts the rest of the day. And the ache is still there. Right where you left it.
You find yourself looking forward to dinner. Not because you’re hungry — but because a full stomach and a glass of wine might be the one moment today when something else drowns out the ache. Just for a little while. Just enough to get through the evening.
You stop planning. You get asked to show up to your usual life — birthdays, dinners, the things that used to feel normal. And you go. But it doesn’t feel the same. It just doesn’t feel the same anymore.
There’s something attached to you. You can feel it. It scares you. You keep waiting for it to pass — but it replays. And replays. And replays.
You find yourself canceling plans. Staying home. Because falling apart in public feels worse than just staying small.
I know. Because when I lost my son — that was me.
I was searching. Alone. Isolated. Confused. Panicked. Holding all of it with nowhere to put it.
Until I went on a grief retreat.
And for the first time — I felt seen. I felt heard. I came back to myself. I came back to the ability to feel.
And now, I have the tools to navigate the pain.
And I know my mission is to support people who were where I was.
This retreat is for you.
A PLACE WHERE PEOPLE WHO GET IT GATHER
When you arrive at Hartzell House, my husband Robert and I will be there to support you.
We've both known loss. We both know what it means to need somewhere safe to land.
That's why we do this.
Imagine arriving somewhere that already feels safe.
— MELISSA & ROBERT
WHAT’S INCLUDED
Everything you need.
Nothing extra.
Two nights at Hartzell House — a warm, safe home tucked into the Pennsylvania hills
Four guided gatherings designed to gently move you from understanding… to softening… to feeling seen… to finding your way back to love
Gentle grief movement — a supportive practice that can be done entirely from a chair. You never have to participate more than you’re ready to. Simply being in the room is enough.
Nourishing meals, open space, and real time to rest
A small, intimate group — so you always feel seen, never lost in a crowd
Come alone, or bring a partner or friend — both are welcome
An optional Sunday visit to Kentuck Knob, one of Frank Lloyd Wright’s most beloved homes — a beautiful, gentle way to close the weekend
The retreat begins Friday, August 7th at 3:00 PM and closes Sunday morning, August 9th.
A two-night stay is required so you can truly arrive, settle in, and experience the retreat fully.
GRIEF MOVEMENT
Your body has been holding this too.
Grief doesn’t just live in your thoughts.
It lives in your body — in your shoulders, your chest, the way you breathe.
Grief movement is a gentle, guided practice that gives your body a way to participate in the release.
It can be done entirely from a chair.
There is no performance. No right way. No wrong way.
And if you’re not ready to participate — you don’t have to.
Just being in the room is enough.
You will still feel it.
Sometimes the body releases what the mind has been holding onto for years.
HOW THE WEEKEND UNFOLDS
A Weekend that unfolds.
UNDERSTANDING
THOUGHT
FEELING
TRANSFORMED
When you learn something true about your grief — what it is, why it’s there, what it’s pointing to — something shifts.
Not because the grief disappears.
Because the thought underneath it changes.
And when the thought moves, the feeling moves.
That is what this weekend is built around.
Not pushing through.
Not bypassing.
Understanding — so grief finally has somewhere to go.
"Understanding shifts the thought.
The thought creates the feeling.
The feeling transforms how grief is carried."
You don’t need to prepare.
You don’t need to know what to expect.
You just need to show up.
WHY ME
I've been exactly where you are.
I watched my son die without knowing what I was watching.
And when he was gone, all of the grief I had been holding finally opened up.
I was seeing a psychologist.
I was showing up.
I was doing what you're supposed to do.
She listened to all of it — every appointment, every story, every layer of what I was carrying.
And I would leave and still ask myself the same question every single time:
How am I going to feel better?
How does this actually work?
I was clueless.
I was waiting for something to shift — waiting for grief to just pass — and it wasn’t passing.
And no one was explaining to me why.
So I started doing my own research.
I started learning about grief — what it actually is, how it lives in the body, what it does to your thoughts, why it replays the way it does.
And that’s when everything changed.
Not because the grief went away.
Because I finally understood it.
And understanding gave me somewhere to put it.
I wasn’t satisfied waiting for this to pass.
I needed to know how it worked.
And once I did — I couldn’t keep that to myself.
I went on a grief retreat.
I met people who were hurting just like me.
I realized I had been so alone in something that so many people were quietly carrying.
Something lifted.
And I left renewed.
I immediately booked another.
And eventually, I created this — at Hartzell House — so no one else has to sit in that question alone wondering when it will pass.
WHO THIS IS FOR
You don't have to be falling apart to come.
This retreat is for you if you're still showing up to your life — going to work, taking care of people, getting through the days — while quietly carrying a grief that hasn’t had anywhere to go.
You might be grieving a person.
A relationship.
A version of your life you thought you’d have.
Something others don’t always recognize as loss.
You don’t have to be in crisis.
You don’t have to have it figured out.
You just have to be ready — even just a little — to stop outrunning it.
You are not broken.
You are not behind.
You are just human — carrying something that was never meant to be carried alone.
THE SPACE
Hartzell House
A SAFE PLACE.
Robert and I changed our lives to create a space where people feel safe, cared for, and truly at rest.
That is the work we were meant to do.
Hartzell House is a restored bed & breakfast in Addison, Pennsylvania — tucked into the hills, quiet, and genuinely loved.
Every room is warm.
Every meal is made with intention.
And the house itself does something — it slows you down simply by being in it.
For a weekend like this, that matters.
You need somewhere that already feels safe before the work even begins.
This is that place.
ABOUT MELISSA
Grief educator.
Movement guide.
Someone who has lived this.
I’m Melissa Angelini — a certified life coach, grief educator, and grief movement guide.
I help people understand grief in a way that brings relief, connection, and compassion — not as something to fix, but as something to finally be with.
My work is rooted in lived experience.
I know what it is to carry grief while life keeps moving.
I know what it’s like to be in a room where you can’t say what’s really happening.
And I know what shifts when you finally can.
This retreat exists because I believe no one should have to figure this out alone.
This retreat holds very few people.
That’s intentional.
The intimacy is what makes it work — the safety, the closeness, the feeling that everyone in the room is truly present with one another.
INVESTMENT
Rooms start at $400 per night.
A two-night stay is required — so you can truly arrive, settle in, and be fully present for the experience.
Your stay includes all retreat gatherings, grief movement, nourishing meals, and the optional Sunday visit to Kentuck Knob.
Everything is included. There is nothing else to buy.
You might be wondering...
Do I have to be in active grief to attend?
No.
Grief comes in many forms and doesn’t follow a timeline.
If you're carrying something — a loss, a life change, a long-held heaviness — you belong here.
Is this therapy?
No.
This is an educational and experiential retreat.
It’s not clinical — it’s human.
We won’t be diagnosing or treating anything.
We’ll be understanding, feeling, and being witnessed together.
Will it feel too heavy?
Maybe at moments.
That’s completely normal.
But something about being in a room with people who truly understand — it lifts.
Most people leave feeling lighter than when they arrived.
What if I'm nervous about being in a group?
Most people are.
The group is intentionally small and carefully held.
You will never be pushed to share more than you're ready to.
This is a safe space — and it will feel that way.
What's included in the room price?
Your room includes:
• Two nights at Hartzell House
• All retreat gatherings
• Grief movement sessions
• Nourishing meals
• Optional Sunday visit to Kentuck Knob
Full room details and pricing are available on the rooms page.
When do I arrive and leave?
The retreat begins Friday, August 7th at 3:00 PM and closes Sunday morning, August 9th.
A two-night stay is required.
If you're still reading, something in you already knows.
You don't have to keep carrying this alone.
You don't have to have it figured out.
You don't have to be ready.
You just have to take one step.
THIS IS IT.
"Just notice. That's where it begins."
© 2026 Melissa Angelini
Opening To Feel Retreat
Hartzell House • Addison, Pennsylvania