Relationship Loss Grief

As his mother was dying, Philip Kennicott began to listen to the music of Bach obsessively. It was the only music that didn't seem trivial or irrelevant, and it enabled him to both experience her death and remove himself from it. He spent the next five years trying to learn one of the composer's greatest keyboard masterpieces, the Goldberg Variations. In Counterpoint, he recounts his efforts to rise to the challenge, and to fight through his grief by coming to terms with his memories of a difficult, complicated childhood.

When their only child was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis (CF) at the age of two, Maryanne O'Hara and her husband were told that Caitlin could live a long life or be dead in a matter of months. Thirty-one years later, Caitlin lost her battle with this devastating disease following an excruciating two-year wait on the transplant list and a last-minute race to locate a pair of healthy lungs. The sudden spiral of events left Maryanne in an existential crisis, searching to find an answer to the eternal question: Why we are here?

When grieving the loss of someone deeply loved, it’s like you’re a vase that has been thrown to the ground, shattered into 1000 pieces and put back together again, only to constantly teeter on the edge of a shelf. Those that don't understand the depth of the pain will say or do something intended to help because the cracks in the vase make them uncomfortable. But, more often than not, those words and actions only make the pain worse for the griever—it's like outsiders push the vase off the shelf and it shatters again.

When Clare Mackintosh lost her five-week-old son, she soon discovered there are no neat, labeled stages of grief like so many books insist. The shape of each loss is different; when a parent, relative, or friend passes, we grieve the person in all their beauty, their humanity, their imperfections. For Clare, there was no preparing for the anger and excruciating ache of knowing her child's life would remain unlived. This is the book she needed then.

This book combines professional insights along with the author's own experience and insights to speculate on how believers can make sense of their Christian faith when confronted with tragedy and suffering.

No one who lives and loves will be immune from grief and trauma. While this suffering is universal, living through a devastating event often leaves people feeling alone and even alienated. Michele Neff Hernandez experienced this when her 39-year-old husband died after being hit by a car while riding his bicycle. Her most transformative realization was that grief changes us. There is no going back or bucking up. Life is now different.

Already Here tells of the death of Leo Galland's son, Christopher, at age 22; the direct visual evidence Christopher showed Leo that our souls do go on; and the communications from Christopher's spirit that changed Leo's understanding of life and its meaning. In life, Christopher was a brain-damaged special-needs child who challenged everyone he knew with unpredictable behavior and uncanny insights. After his death, he revealed to Leo the real purpose of his life, as a spiritual guide who taught others by confounding their assumptions and expectations.

In 2015, Michele and Jeff Allen started Monkey's House, a dog hospice and sanctuary. Celebrating the beauty each dog has to offer, they have welcomed over 100 hospice dogs into their home. This book highlights 37 of the dogs that have called Monkey's House home. Share in their journeys, laugh at their crazy antics, and shed a few tears while witnessing miracles of transformation. Rejoice along with these dogs, knowing they experienced the greatest gift of all, the healing power of love.

An immensely moving collection of letters on the theme of grief, curated by the founder of the globally popular Letters of Note website.

When you’re going through a loss, it feels comforting to talk to people who have been through it and understand how difficult it is emotionally—people who understand that there is so much to learn, including things you have to learn "on the job” and many things you'll wish you'd known earlier.

At My Mind Valley, we have created a powerful affirmation program to let you work your way through pain and reinvest in life in an easy and holistic way.

Felicity Warner’s Soul Midwives movement has revolutionized the face of modern palliative care all over the world. Soul Midwives are trained to honor the unique needs of each individual at every stage of the dying process, offering spiritual, emotional, and holistic support and companionship in various settings–whether at home, in hospices, or care homes. This essential handbook blends ancient wisdom and forgotten traditions with contemporary holistic practices to redefine end-of-life care and ease the passage of the dying.

Have you experienced the pain of losing a loved one or navigating a significant life change? Grief is a natural yet deeply personal journey, and it’s okay to not feel okay. In "It's OKAY to NOT FEEL OKAY: Navigating Grief and Loss," author Natalie Masucci offers a compassionate guide to understanding and managing grief, providing practical strategies and emotional support to help you heal.

Over half of all people living in the world today experience divorce. But what comes with divorce and custody battles? Surely, we feel both positive and negative emotions during the most difficult and transformative time in our lives. Surely, our ex and our children are going through some profound senses of loss - loss of dreams and loss of future plans. Loss of belongings, their home, their car, loss of family, loss of children. Some divorcees go through significantly more difficulty in adjusting than other.

Being present at the bedside—EVEN AT THE MOMENT OF DEATH—can become an experience embedded in the minds and souls of family members for generations. It is a deeply emotional time, one of relief and sadness. Anyone who has taken that final journey with a loved one will never forget those moments. Dr. Edward Creagan has dedicated his life to death. And now this esteemed medical doctor examines death, not only from a medical standpoint, but from an acutely emotional perspective as events beyond our control unfold.

While there is no getting over grief; there is a way forward through it. This book reveals that way. You are no longer alone in your grief -- starting now.

Drawing on her experience as a grieving person and two years’ worth of interviews with grief experts like Megan Devine, Kerry Egan, and Caleb Wilde, Shelby Forsythia makes the case for radical, self-honoring permission - free from personal judgement and society’s restrictive timelines and rules. Permission to Grieve guides you to call your grief out of hiding and invites you to give it permission through thoughtful writing prompts and easy-to-follow exercises.

The novelist Charles Bock was a reluctant parent, tagging along for the ride of fatherhood, obsessed primarily with his dream of a writing career. But when his daughter Lily was six months old, his wife, Diana, was diagnosed with a complex form of leukemia. Two and a half years later, when all treatments and therapies had been exhausted, Bock found himself a widower—devastated, drowning in medical bills, and saddled with a daunting responsibility. He had to nurture Lily and, somehow, maybe even heal himself.

Worried about your ability to cope after the death of a beloved friend, family member, or partner? Author and longtime Buddhist Margaret Meloni, PhD, has walked this path. With elder parents and a husband with cancer, Meloni knew death was coming. She worked to be as prepared as possible. When the inevitable occurred, she tapped into her practice and strength to keep moving forward. “I’m not the one who died” is the mantra she used to face her overwhelming grief and rebuild her life. She openly shares her wisdom with you as an advocate for death awareness.

At the age of 60, Cory Taylor is dying of melanoma-related brain cancer. Her illness is no longer treatable: She now weighs less than her neighbor's retriever. As her body weakens, she describes the experience - the vulnerability and strength, the courage and humility, the anger and acceptance - of knowing she will soon die. Written in the space of a few weeks, in a tremendous creative surge, this powerful and beautiful memoir is a clear-eyed account of what dying teaches.