Have you lost a loved one? The loss can be inestimable, the grief excruciating. What helped you? Did someone say something comforting? Did someone offer a consolation, which you resented? Have you ever tried to comfort someone with a terminal illness or one who has lost a loved one? Knowing how to help or what to say that is not trite, insincere, or superficial can be difficult. The point of view of a grieving person is quite different from that of those who wish to offer comfort. In a multicultural society such as ours, anticipating the beliefs of the grieving person can be even more difficult. This book explores the perspective of a grieving person. It considers the merits and potential harm of alternative comfort strategies. As a philosophical analysis of grief, it emphasizes an understanding of the beliefs that underlie grief and the usefulness or dangers of emotions. Because grief is so complex and sensitive, a narrow approach runs the risk of alienating the grieving person. The ideas in this book are expressed in a dialogue among three characters. Their discussion is broad and fundamental. Starting from the familiar consolation, "She's no longer suffering" and the grieving person's resentment toward the expression, the three friends articulate the value of life and the evils of death. Their discussion enriches their understanding of grief. Many consolations offered to mourners are poor arguments. Even the better ones do their work best in the context of a greater understanding of grief.

"Unmet expectations and conflicts arise, when a person is hurting and doesn't know what they need, and their loved ones don't know what to say or how to help."

By the time author Erica McNeal was thirty-two years old, she was already a three-time cancer survivor, and had experienced the loss of five children, two of which she held in her arms. Those close to her were not sure of how to console her, and some well-intended comments only served to hurt Erica and her family in their healing process.

For example, imagine being diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, at twenty-two years old, and having your best friend tell you that she wished she had cancer too, so that people would like her. Or imagine being pressured to hold a friend's baby-a child that was born the same day you buried your daughter, in order to "prove your love" for the couple.

These statements represent only a fraction, and not even the worst, of the painful words spoken to her family while they struggled through cancer treatments and grieved the loss of their children.

"Good Grief " is a book filled with tangible solutions for determining what to say, what not to say, and what to do, in order to love others well, through difficult times

Ask any woman whose mother has died, and she will tell you that she is irrevocably altered, as deeply changed by her mother's death as she was by her mother's life. Although a mother's mortality is inevitable, no book had discussed the profound, lasting and far-reaching effects of this loss - until Motherless Daughters, which became in instant classic. Over twenty years later, it is still the book that women of all ages look to for comfort and understanding when their mothers die, and the book that they continue to press into each other's hands. Building on interviews with hundreds of mother-loss survivors, the author's personal story of losing her mother and recent research in grief and psychology, Motherless Daughters reveals the shared experiences and core identity issues of motherless women. * * * * * * * 'Motherless Daughters is a timeless source of consolation and information for all who grieve the death of their mother. It highlights that we bear this loss by remembering, not forgetting our mother.' JULIA SAMUEL, author of Grief Works 'Anyone who has lost their mother should read this remarkable, tender book, full of insight and consolation. This is one of those exceptional books that has the power to change your life.' CLOVER STROUD, author of The Wild Other 'Nothing has helped me make more sense of myself than Motherless Daughters; it's the book I go back to again and again, and find something new in it every time.' DECCA AITKENHEAD 'Intelligent, brave, consoling and wise . . . an essential and illuminating must-read for anyone who has lost a mother or loves someone who did.' CHERYL STRAYED, author of Wild 'This book has helped me heal my heart. Finding myself in the stories of other motherless daughters let me know I was not alone. If you have lost your mom - this book is essential.' ROSIE O'DONNELL 'Absorbing . . . insightful . . . a moving and valuable treatment of a neglected subject.' NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

A thrilling Gothic tale from the author of Our Castle by the Sea, shortlisted for the Waterstones Children's Book Prize. 'Told in deft and luminous language, The Ghost of Gosswater is storytelling at its very best.' Kiran Millwood Hargrave, author of THE GIRL OF INK & STARS 'Family secrets, a ghost girl and a forbidding manor house that goes up in smoke ... You can't help rooting for Agatha in this spooky, addictive tale of friendship and family.' THE TIMES 'Eerie, shimmering, unputdownable' HILARY MCKAY, winner of the Costa Book Award The Lake District, 1899 The Earl is dead and cruel Cousin Clarence has inherited everything. Twelve-year-old Lady Agatha Asquith is cast out of Gosswater Hall to live in a tiny, tumbledown cottage with a stranger who claims to be her father. Aggie is determined to discover her real identity, but she is not alone on her quest for the truth. On the last day of the year, when the clock strikes midnight, a mysterious girl of light creeps through the crack in time; she will not rest until the dark, terrible secrets of the past have been revealed ... The third novel by acclaimed bestselling author Lucy Strange, author of The Secret of Nightingale Wood and Our Castle by the Sea A thrilling gothic adventure for young readers aged 9 and up - perfect for fans of Emma Carroll and Frances Hardinge Follows strong-willed heroine Agatha Gosswater as she untangles the dark mystery of her own past, with the backdrop of the eerie Gosswater Lake

Dry Eyes of Innocence is an extraordinary story of courage and strength in the fight against Leukemia! A chronicle from the author's viewpoint, as he witnesses a personal transformation unfold in the last five or six years of his brothers awe-inspiring battle. Jeffrey was imprisoned from the age of 15 to 37, and then released into a world foreign to him. As an adult, in free society, Jeffrey learned the ropes of true manhood and responsibility and then fell victim to a terminal illness. Growing spiritually and emotionally while withering physically. Jeff and his family ponder -- will a matching donor be found in time? Will the transplant be successfull, or rejected? Will the effects of this physical assault on his body cause him to succumb? Or, will victory reign? The author finds himself in transformation from fear to victory, learning of Jeffrey's Leukemia at the most inopportune time, then helping his big brother overcome some of the most surreal moments of life imaginable. One finger in the air from Jeffrey is the constant reminder of his source of strength. this thug turned darling, with no internal organs and no self-sustaining breath, musters the strength to raise one finger and miraculously sing, "There's not a friend like the lowly Jesus. No, not one.No, not one!" All of the ward nurses and doctors come running to witness this miracle! Dry Eyes of Innocence is a must read for anyone seeking strength in the midst of a storm, anyone searching for power to transform lives and for an inspiring message from an unlikely champion! 6 x 9 trade hard cover - 128 pages

In a powerful and intimate memoir, Jackie Hance shares her story of unbearable loss, darkest despair, and--slowly, painfully, and miraculously--her cautious return to hope and love. Until the horrific car accident on New York's Taconic State Parkway that took the lives of her three beloved young daughters, Jackie Hance was an ordinary Long Island mom, fulfilled by the joyful chaos of a household bustling with life and chatter and love. After the tragedy, she was The Taconic Mom, whose unimaginable loss embodied every parent's worst nightmare. Suddenly, her lifelong Catholic faith no longer explained the world. Her marriage to her husband, Warren, was ravaged by wrenching grief and recrimination. Unable to cope with the unfathomable, she reinvented reality each night so that she awoke each morning having forgotten the heartbreaking facts: that Emma, age 8; Alyson, age 7; and Katie, age 5, were gone forever. They were killed in a minivan driven by their aunt, Jackie's sister-in-law, Diane Schuler, while returning from a camping weekend on a sunny July morning. I'll See You Again chronicles the day Jackie received the traumatizing phone call that defied all understanding, and the numbed and torturous events that followed--including the devastating medical findings that shattered Jackie to the core and shocked America. But this profoundly honest account is also the story of how a tight-knit community rallied around the Hances, providing the courage and strength for them to move forward. It's a story of forgiveness, hope, and rebirth, as Jackie and Warren struggle to rediscover the possibility of joy by welcoming their fourth daughter, Kasey Rose Hance. The story that Jackie Hance shares for the first time will touch your heart and warm you to the power of love and hope.

For fifty years Good Grief has helped millions of readers find comfort and rediscover hope after loss. Now this classic text is available in a new edition, with an afterword by the author's daughters telling how the book came to be.

The first of its kind: a compassionate exploration of how men deal with the deaths of their fathers. With Hope Edelman's Motherless Daughters, millions of women found comfort in the experiences of other women who had lost their mothers. But until now, no book has been available to guide men through what can be an equally wrenching and life-changing event. Based on a landmark national survey of 300 men, and in-depth interviews with 70 others, FatherLoss is the first book that focuses specifically on how sons cope with the deaths of their dads. Chethik offers rich portraits of a variety of father-son relationships, and focuses on how the death of a father affects sons differently, depending on when in their lives it occurs. He also explores how such cultural figures as Ernest Hemingway, Dwight Eisenhower, and Michael Jordan were affected by the loss of their fathers. By weaving together the poignant experiences of diverse men and the results of his groundbreaking survey, Chethik offers fresh insight into the unique male grieving process, encouraging men to share an experience too many have been conditioned to endure in silence.

In the post-9/11 moments, months, and years, America has come to develop a new mortality awareness. Death, and our understanding that it can be sudden and is certainly inevitable, is being talked about more than ever before. As the team in this volume shows through groundbreaking research, surveys, interviews, and vignettes, death awareness has grown strong, and has changed the way we think and act, not only in relation to ourselves and our loved ones, but in relation to society overall. Those changes include nuances from increases in the number and size of college courses focused on death, rapid growth of death books, death photography, television shows dealing with death, as well as the recording and dissemination of death videos from those that show family members dying peacefully to the execution of terrorists or their captives. Impromptu street creations to memorialize common people who have died have emerged, as have new ways to dispose of dead bodies, including blasting ashes into space or placing them under the sea or giving them a green resting place in a natural forest. Our means of grieving, coping, and beliefs about afterlife have been altered, too.

This work also includes a look at cosmologists and physicists who have revised their theories on humanity's legacy when our world meets a fateful end, who propose a means by which mankind's achievements might survive indefinitely, transporting from one universe to another without violating the known laws of physics. This book will intrigue all with an interest in considering not only death and how 9/11 changed America's views on and beliefs about it, but also considering what could lie beyond that end for all of us.

You can maintain your faith even through adversity and begin to live a life of purpose.

In "Life Goes On," author Allison Gregory Daniels shares how she did just that. She chronicles her life experiences and her refusal to let events destroy God's calling for her. She offers testimony to the trust that she placed in God and the knowledge that her past experiences did not have to destroy her future dreams. She knew that she would dream again, love again, and laugh again once she changed how she dealt with her past disappointments and found her true path.

The Word of God warns us that the enemy wants to steal, kill, and destroy; even so, if you let Jesus into your life, you can live life more abundantly with His love and guidance. "Life Goes On" challenges and encourages each of us to look inside ourselves for the changes we want to see and make a difference. The answer lies within each of us, and the time has come to take back our lives and change how we think about ourselves and how God fits into our everyday lives.

"Life Goes On" is a dynamic, step-by-step guide offering powerful tips, strategies, and tools for overcoming your past hurts, surviving emotional setbacks, and handling your emotions. Take back your life, and learn to live again.

A lawyer and venture capitalist provides a complete, practical guide for dealing with the concrete details surrounding the death of a loved one, from funeral and estate planning to navigating the complexities of online identities.Scott Taylor Smith, a venture capitalist and lawyer, had plentiful resources, and yet after his mother died, he made a series of agonizing and costly mistakes in squaring away her affairs. He could find countless books that dealt with caring for the dying and the emotional fallout of death, but very few that dealt with the logistics. In the aftermath of his mother's death, Smith decided to write the book he wished he'd had. When Someone Dies provides readers with a crucial framework for making good, informed, money-saving decisions in the chaotic thirty days after a loved one dies and beyond. It provides essential, concrete guidance on: - Making funeral and memorial service arrangements - Writing an obituary - Estate planning - Contacting family and friends - Handling your loved one's online footprint - Navigating probate - Dealing with finances, including trusts and taxation - And much, much more Featuring concise checklists in each chapter, this guide offers answers to practical questions, enabling loved ones to save time and money and focus on healing.

The name of my book is "BLACK WITCH" It is a non-fiction book. The book is about the death of my daughter and the aftermath of that life changing event. It follows the path of a simple man as he grapples with his depression and his ideas of God. He battles demons, real and imagined. He confronts the glue that holds life together. The book is set against the spectacular backdrop of Alaska.

Written for the person who wants to help the one who is grieving, this book is filled with immediately practical ideas as well as long term, specific ways to help someone move from grieving to growth, and eventually to cherishing good memories.

A stunning literary memoir from an exceptional Irish writer and comedian Marise was nine when she first realized there was trouble, 14 when her Dad tried to end it all, and 23 when he finally succeeded. In a turmoil of conflicting emotions Marise runs - from Dublin to Amsterdam to Los Angeles, leaving a trail of sex and self-destruction in her wake. Until finally, she finds herself facing what she's become in a California psych ward, a girl imploding through trying to make sense of her father's suicide. As she retells her unravelling, from child to adult, Marise strips back her identity and her relationship with her father, layer by layer, until she starts to understand how to live with him, years after he has gone. Written beautifully, with wit and unflinching honesty, Marise has produced one of the most profound coming-of-age memoirs of recent years, a stunning new voice in Irish writing.

The loss of a child is a pain unimaginable. Tina Guccione knows this from experience. She is a member of a club that no one wants to belong to, yet she was forced into the initiation. Parents who have lost a child know a pain unlike any other and are the strongest people she's ever met. They are to be admired because they have learned how to wake up every morning and continue on despite their loss.

Even in death, the children continue to shine within you. You are their legacy because they've deeply touched your soul. Tina has learned to reflect on the love and blessings that her daughter, Annie, brought into her life; for without her she would have never experienced the things that she experienced through Annie.

Annie wanted to write this book to tell her story and Tina was only supposed to help her a little and support her a lot. Instead Tina is writing it and finishing what she started because she promised Annie that she would do that for her.

Annie lived an amazing life!

The day Valerie found out she was pregnant with her second child was the day her husband died. He'd fallen asleep driving. She didn't know how to be a widow. Widows were old, with bunions. Not 26, and pregnant. She moved cross-country from Massachusetts to Oregon, delivered her baby, and sought catharsis in journaling and art. And then there was the dating. Somehow that seemed scarier than trying the spirit medium. During her spiritual journey, she discovered that falling in love again wasn't a betrayal, and soon enough, she was able to wear grief with grace.