I M A Widow What Now Embracing Life After Loss

Written for widows who are in the throes of grief from the death of a spouse. Encourages the reader to actively work through grief, and advocates persistent and active efforts to cultivate a life of fulfillment and purpose.

What happens when your husband dies unexpectedly in the prime of your life and marriage? In Widow’s Might, Kim Knight shares her experience when her husband suddenly and unexpectedly died at fifty-six years old. In one day, Kim went from planning her future with her best friend to planning a funeral, searching for passwords to online accounts, trying to return to normal when things were no longer normal, and finding God in the middle of trauma and grief. Widow’s Might is for young or middle-aged widows and those who love them. The book helps those who’ve experienced a tragic loss to better understand the confusing and unpredictable path of grief as well as the challenges and promise of new growth. Learning to embrace a life different from the one you imagined isn’t something you’re going to master by the end of year one, when your family and friends think you should, or when you hope you might. You can deeply embrace and honor your marriage to your late spouse and still find contentment, happiness, and maybe even love in the days ahead. Widow’s Might will give you the strength and wisdom to discover new life on the other side of death. Look toward what God has in store for you. And—every once in a while—spend the day in your pajamas and eat popcorn for dinner. It’s okay.

When someone we love dies, our whole world is knocked off balance. One of the most common and yet difficult feelings you experience is isolation. It seems no one understands what you are going through. And many of us are so busy, you don’t take the time to fully grieve and, therefore, heal from your losses. It is very true that people who are grieving often feel extremely tired because the process of grieving usually requires physical and emotional energy. The grief you are feeling is not just for the person who died, but also for the unfulfilled wishes and plans for the relationship with the person. Death often reminds most of the people of past losses or separations. Remember, there are a number of conditions that can make it harder for you as a person to successfully make it through the grief process. For example, sudden losses are harder to deal with than ones that have been anticipated. With anticipated losses, the knowledge that a loss will occur allows people to prepare, both by feeling grief before the fact of the loss and also by planning ways to minimize the negative impact of the loss when it does occur. The loss of a spouse, lover, child, parent, or best friend is usually more deeply felt than the loss of more distant relations and friends. This is because such central relationships have long and deeply felt histories and an intensity of attachment that does not occur with more distant relationships. Central relationships are more deeply and significantly knitted into the grieving person’s sense of self, and thus leave a bigger hole in the grieving person’s sense of self when they are lost. I discovered that when things are going badly, whether in the family or work environment, most of us strive mightily to improve our situations. But what if the way to overcome a series of losses and failures is just to sink into them? We all go through trials and tribulations. Everyone has difficult situations in their life. It is the way we look at them, and the way we handle those situations. I believe it is the struggle we must endure to gain the strength needed to break through the barriers. With every victory comes the strength we need to overcome the obstacles and move forward. Most people today give up easily because of what you may call emotional downturn. This book in your hand has been written and carefully thought out with you in mind. It has been written to bring you out of your sociological pit and emotional defeat. I therefore gladly recommend this book to your reading that you may be built in His grace. I believe that God will never give you more than you can handle. You often wonder how some people cope with their situations in life, I often hear people saying, “Idon’tthinkIcoulddealwiththat” but we don’t know what strength lies within us, until the time comes to face the challenge. The harder the struggle, the sweeter the victory—No test, no rewards.

GRIEF IS CRUEL! The pain is like no other you have experienced. As a widow, do you feel lost, alone, angry, or disconnected? Are you questioning your new identity in life now? If so, you are not alone. Grief is something a person must go through when we lose someone we deeply love. No one can do it for you. The good news, if there is any, is that you do not have to go through it alone. This book will show you how. Who is this book for? This book is for you if you are a grieving widow. It discusses areas of life affected by grief that we don't always think of, and ways in which there is help. This book is for you if you have found yourself not knowing how to help a widow through her loss. You are not sure what to say or do. This book is for you if you work with someone who is experiencing grief. This book is for you if you like books that are short, easy to read, and to the point. Click the BUY BUTTON now, and start your journey towards healing.

In this groundbreaking new work, David Kessler—an expert on grief and the coauthor with Elisabeth Kübler-Ross of the iconic On Grief and Grieving—journeys beyond the classic five stages to discover a sixth stage: meaning. In 1969, Elisabeth Kübler Ross first identified the stages of dying in her transformative book On Death and Dying. Decades later, she and David Kessler wrote the classic On Grief and Grieving, introducing the stages of grief with the same transformative pragmatism and compassion. Now, based on hard-earned personal experiences, as well as knowledge and wisdom earned through decades of work with the grieving, Kessler introduces a critical sixth stage. Many people look for “closure” after a loss. Kessler argues that it’s finding meaning beyond the stages of grief most of us are familiar with—denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance—that can transform grief into a more peaceful and hopeful experience. In this book, Kessler gives readers a roadmap to remembering those who have died with more love than pain; he shows us how to move forward in a way that honors our loved ones. Kessler’s insight is both professional and intensely personal. His journey with grief began when, as a child, he witnessed a mass shooting at the same time his mother was dying. For most of his life, Kessler taught physicians, nurses, counselors, police, and first responders about end of life, trauma, and grief, as well as leading talks and retreats for those experiencing grief. Despite his knowledge, his life was upended by the sudden death of his twenty-one-year-old son. How does the grief expert handle such a tragic loss? He knew he had to find a way through this unexpected, devastating loss, a way that would honor his son. That, ultimately, was the sixth state of grief—meaning. In Finding Meaning, Kessler shares the insights, collective wisdom, and powerful tools that will help those experiencing loss. Finding Meaning is a necessary addition to grief literature and a vital guide to healing from tremendous loss. This is an inspiring, deeply intelligent must-read for anyone looking to journey away from suffering, through loss, and towards meaning.

If you or a close friend are now or about to become a widower, this book can help you. The physical, emotional, and psychological pain will be greater than you can imagine. A widower may think that he is going crazy, his judgement is often distorted, and his social filters can be almost nonexistent. Nights often become sleepless delusional times from which there is no escape. Widower to Widower is written to provide widowers with desperately needed help during their grieving process. It is also a resource to therapists who assist widowers, to friends and family who want to better understand what he is going through, and to women who have befriended a widower. Colby's own experience made him desperate to find answers so he could avoid making bad life choices. He quickly found that resources for widowers were minimal and often of questionable value. This led him to write Widower to Widower. He drew upon thirty years of writing experience writing during his non-profit career. REVIEWS: "Fred Colby's book, Widower to Widower, shares his experiences as he navigates the grief process following the death of his wife. With a straight-forward voice and clear writing style, Fred provides insight from his personal journey to provide education, understanding and comfort to other men who are grieving. This book is an essential tool for grief counselors as well as their male clients." Mia Towbin, MS, LMFT - Grief Counselor. "For any man who has suffered, either recently or not so recently, the death of his beloved wife, Fred Colby's book is essential reading. As a fellow widower, I give this book my highest recommendation." Robert Devereaux, Widower, Writer, Actor Hundreds of widowers have offered their praise of Widower to Widower on Fred Colby's Testimonies/Reviews page at fredcolby.com.

When a loved one dies we mourn our loss. We take comfort in the rituals that mark the passing, and we turn to those around us for support. But what happens when there is no closure, when a family member or a friend who may be still alive is lost to us nonetheless? How, for example, does the mother whose soldier son is missing in action, or the family of an Alzheimer's patient who is suffering from severe dementia, deal with the uncertainty surrounding this kind of loss? In this sensitive and lucid account, Pauline Boss explains that, all too often, those confronted with such ambiguous loss fluctuate between hope and hopelessness. Suffered too long, these emotions can deaden feeling and make it impossible for people to move on with their lives. Yet the central message of this book is that they can move on. Drawing on her research and clinical experience, Boss suggests strategies that can cushion the pain and help families come to terms with their grief. Her work features the heartening narratives of those who cope with ambiguous loss and manage to leave their sadness behind, including those who have lost family members to divorce, immigration, adoption, chronic mental illness, and brain injury. With its message of hope, this eloquent book offers guidance and understanding to those struggling to regain their lives. Table of Contents: 1. Frozen Grief 2. Leaving without Goodbye 3. Goodbye without Leaving 4. Mixed Emotions 5. Ups and Downs 6. The Family Gamble 7. The Turning Point 8. Making Sense out of Ambiguity 9. The Benefit of a Doubt Notes Acknowledgments Reviews of this book: You will find yourself thinking about the issues discussed in this book long after you put it down and perhaps wishing you had extra copies for friends and family members who might benefit from knowing that their sorrows are not unique...This book's value lies in its giving a name to a force many of us will confront--sadly, more than once--and providing personal stories based on 20 years of interviews and research. --Pamela Gerhardt, Washington Post Reviews of this book: A compassionate exploration of the effects of ambiguous loss and how those experiencing it handle this most devastating of losses ... Boss's approach is to encourage families to talk together, to reach a consensus about how to mourn that which has been lost and how to celebrate that which remains. Her simple stories of families doing just that contain lessons for all. Insightful, practical, and refreshingly free of psychobabble. --Kirkus Review Reviews of this book: Engagingly written and richly rewarding, this title presents what Boss has learned from many years of treating individuals and families suffering from uncertain or incomplete loss...The obvious depth of the author's understanding of sufferers of ambiguous loss and the facility with which she communicates that understanding make this a book to be recommended. --R. R. Cornellius, Choice Reviews of this book: Written for a wide readership, the concepts of ambiguous loss take immediate form through the many provocative examples and stories Boss includes, All readers will find stories with which they will relate...Sensitive, grounded and practical, this book should, in my estimation, be required reading for family practitioners. --Ted Bowman, Family Forum Reviews of this book: Dr. Boss describes [the] all-too-common phenomenon [of unresolved grief] as resulting from either of two circumstances: when the lost person is still physically present but emotionally absent or when the lost person is physically absent but still emotionally present. In addition to senility, physical presence but psychological absence may result, for example, when a person is suffering from a serious mental disorder like schizophrenia or depression or debilitating neurological damage from an accident or severe stroke, when a person abuses drugs or alcohol, when a child is autistic or when a spouse is a workaholic who is not really 'there' even when he or she is at home...Cases of physical absence with continuing psychological presence typically occur when a soldier is missing in action, when a child disappears and is not found, when a former lover or spouse is still very much missed, when a child 'loses' a parent to divorce or when people are separated from their loved ones by immigration...Professionals familiar with Dr. Boss's work emphasised that people suffering from ambiguous loss were not mentally ill, but were just stuck and needed help getting past the barrier or unresolved grief so that they could get on with their lives. --Asian Age Combining her talents as a compassionate family therapist and a creative researcher, Pauline Boss eloquently shows the many and complex ways that people can cope with the inevitable losses in contemporary family life. A wise book, and certain to become a classic. --Constance R. Ahrons, author of The Good Divorce A powerful and healing book. Families experiencing ambiguous loss will find strategies for seeing what aspects of their loved ones remain, and for understanding and grieving what they have lost. Pauline Boss offers us both insight and clarity. --Kathy Weingarten, Ph.D, The Family Institute of Cambridge, Harvard Medical School

The star of "Long Island Medium" shares inspiring, spirit-based lessons on how to work through and overcome grief, in a guide that also offers example testimonies about the experiences of her clients