Grief Connects Us

In his exceptionally thought-provoking and moving memoir, neurosurgeon Joseph D. Stern explores how personal loss influences the way physicians relate to patients and their families. How does a doctor who deals with the death of patients on a regular basis confront his own loss when his beloved sister is living out her last days? Despite a career as a neurosurgeon, Joseph Stern learned more about the nature of illness and death after his younger sister, Victoria, developed leukemia than his formal medical training ever taught him. Her death broke down the self-protective barriers he had built to perform his job and led to a profound shift in his approach to medicine. During the year of his sister’s illness, Dr. Stern developed a greater awareness of the needs of patients and their families; of the burdens they carry; of the importance of connection, communication, and gratitude; and of what it means to ask the right questions. Grief Connects Us bridges the gap between patients and doctors, providing a window into their shared concerns. Interspersing reflections from Victoria's journal, stories of patients and colleagues, and insights from experts, Dr. Stern has orchestrated a symphony of voices guiding us toward greater mutual understanding and appreciation of the beauty and fragility of life. No matter which side of the patient-doctor relationship you find yourself on, listening with empathy, a willingness to be vulnerable, and emotional agility are skills we can all develop to improve how we meet difficult, unavoidable challenges.

Here he is, husband and father, scruffy romantic, a shambolic scholar--a man adrift in the wake of his wife's sudden, accidental death. And there are his two sons who like him struggle in their London apartment to face the unbearable sadness that has engulfed them. The father imagines a future of well-meaning visitors and emptiness, while the boys wander, savage and unsupervised. In this moment of violent despair they are visited by Crow--antagonist, trickster, goad, protector, therapist, and babysitter. This self-described "sentimental bird," at once wild and tender, who "finds humans dull except in grief," threatens to stay with the wounded family until they no longer need him. As weeks turn to months and the pain of loss lessens with the balm of memories, Crow's efforts are rewarded and the little unit of three begins to recover: Dad resumes his book about the poet Ted Hughes; the boys get on with it, grow up. Part novella, part polyphonic fable, part essay on grief, Max Porter's extraordinary debut combines compassion and bravura style to dazzling effect. Full of angular wit and profound truths, Grief Is the Thing with Feathers is a startlingly original and haunting debut by a significant new talent.

Till We Meet Again is a children's book about death and grieving. It helps children learn that it is good to share their stories and memories with their loved ones and it teaches them to honor the person they are grieving through their own actions. This book provides comfort and gives hope that someday we will all meet again.

When author Dawn DiRaimondo, PsyD, lost her brother in 2004, she found only one book on sibling loss. So, she wrote the book she wished she had then. Surviving Sibling Loss: The Invisible Thread that Connects Us Through Life and Death is the gold standard of grief books, helping not only people who are grieving but also their therapists, partners, and friends better support their loved ones. The chapters are deliberately short and full of easy-to-find resources, and the book can be read cover to cover or picked up and put down again. This structure aids those who are struggling, who fatigue and lose focus easily under the weight of their grief. Dr. DiRaimondo is a clinical psychologist whose specialties include working with clients who have experienced significant loss, including the loss of children, siblings, spouses, grandchildren, and young parents. Surviving Sibling Loss interweaves her personal and professional experience and knowledge of bereavement as well as the perspectives of fourteen individuals she interviewed who also lost siblings.

A Grief Observed is a collection of Lewis's reflections on the experience of bereavement following the death of his wife, Joy Davidman, in 1960. The book was first published under the pseudonym N.W. Clerk as Lewis wished to avoid identification as the author. Though republished in 1963 after his death under his own name, the text still refers to his wife as "H" (her first name, which she rarely used, was Helen). The book is compiled from the four notebooks which Lewis used to vent and explore his grief. He illustrates the everyday trials of his life without Joy and explores fundamental questions of faith and theodicy. Lewis's step-son (Joy's son) Douglas Gresham points out in his 1994 introduction that the indefinite article 'a' in the title makes it clear that Lewis's grief is not the quintessential grief experience at the loss of a loved one, but one individual's perspective among countless others. The book helped inspire a 1985 television movie Shadowlands, as well as a 1993 film of the same name. Clive Staples Lewis (1898-1963) was a British novelist, poet, academic, medievalist, lay theologian and Christian apologist. He is best known for his fictional work, especially The Screwtape Letters, The Chronicles of Narnia, and The Space Trilogy, and for his non-fiction Christian apologetics, such as Mere Christianity, Miracles, and The Problem of Pain.

I have seen water move rocks. I have seen thistles break through boulders. If water and flowers can move stones, surely love can. Becca Stevens, from Funeral for a Stranger In this meditation on living and dying, Becca Stevens shares moving and hilarious stories about her life, love, friends, and our many families. This delicately formed narrative is also a window into the soul of a priest. I loved it and will hold it in my heart with gratitude for years to come. -Phyllis Tickle, author of The Great Emergence: How Christianity Is Changing and Why Loneliness finds connections, depair meets celebration, and fear discovers faith. Join Becca on her journey to a funeral for a stranger. God will be there. -Don Schlitz, Hall of Fame songwriter of The Gambler With elegant simplicity Becca Stevens escorts the reader to the banks of the deepest spiritual wellspring. Surely she ranks among our most gifted teachers on the things that matter most of all. -Stephen Bauman, author of Simple Truths: On Values, Civility, and Our Common Good

The experience of grief has been a source of intrigue and curiosity throughout history, and it continues to stimulate thought and theory in various fields of study. Unfortunately, these fields tend to function in isolation from each other. The result is a substantial disconnect between grief research, theory, and care?which has evolved greatly over the last two decades?and ministerial practice.Using a metaphor of grief as a mosaic, Melissa Kelley presents contemporary grief theory and research, integrated with important theological, religious, and ministerial perspectives. Written in an accessible way for ministers, ministers-in-training, and all pastoral and spiritual caregivers, this book provides the most up-to-date theory and research in grief to help inform their care of others. Through exploration of critical topics including attachment to God, meaning making, and religious coping in grief, readers are brought right to the heart of a contemporary understanding of grief.

This beautifully designed hardcover book is a guide to working through grief and healing in mind, body, and spirit. Author Amanda Mackenzie provides a collection of simple practices to support those who have experienced the death of a loved one, helping you remain present to your grief and move toward recovery. Explore the emotions, thoughts, symptoms, and spiritual energy of loss as you learn how to identify the pathways to healing. In addition to information and personal insights about grief, each chapter shares hands-on practices to assist you, including affirmations, meditations, essential oils, rituals, chakra work, and more. To be human is to experience grief, and the path to recovery has many twists and turns. Wherever you are with your grief, this book is designed to help you navigate the ups and downs as you reconnect with the spiritual energy of healing after loss.