Books can provide connection following tremendous loss
Sorrow is one of the hardest parts of being human. But the empathy offered by others is one of the best.
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A romance shaped by grief
We rarely recognize the final time we’ll speak to someone we love.
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Guidebooks for the grieving
Much of The Grief Library is memoir and fiction that provides companionship for the mourning journey. But we often crave a more direct guide, as well. Here are two I’ve explored.
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Exploring joy and grief on a quest to find America’s best free restaurant bread
I’ll argue that there are threads of something more woven through this piece. And one of them is the reason we’re gathered here today: grief.
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Laughing through the tears beside a loved one’s death bed
We All Want Impossible Things by Catherine Newman Genre: NovelGrief focus: DeathRelationship: FriendTone: Companionable, gentle, funny My sister asked if I had time for a call one November day. She needed to update me on our dad’s health. Daddy had been hospitalized since late August; a stroke had sent him looking for care, and after…
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The grief process doesn’t abide by the rules of fair play
This novel might be one of the closest depictions of what it felt like to mourn my sister.
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Collective or individual, grief changes us
This is a story about the McIlvaine family and their specific loss. And, more broadly, this is also a story about all grief.
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Finding company for The Year of Magical Thinking
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion Genre: Nonfiction, memoirGrief focus: Death, traumaRelationship: SpouseTone: Blunt, reflective I moved to Colorado in January 2017 with only possessions I could fit in my car. Housing is tough on the state’s Western Slope. Even before the affordable housing crisis dominated the country, finding a place to live…