Losing Your Best Friend

Praise for the book: "Losing Your Best Friend covers one of the most ignored emotional issues in America today. Our high speed society causes 20 million households to change addresses annually. No one knows the emotional damage caused by friends losing touch with each other. This book not only addresses different aspects of losing your buddy but it gives ideas on how to heal yourself when you lose a dear friend." Glen Hamilton "I don't usually cry, but I cried at some of the histories of the people in this book because their stories are my story. I lost my dad at an early age. My best friend in high school dropped out of my life. This book answered several of my life-long emotional aches." Frank Archer "This is one heck of a powerful book! It's a must read for anyone that has lost a friend or parent. It will give you answers that you may not have thought about. It will touch your heart and you will learn from their experiences. It also shows you what you can do if you suffer conflict with your friend's wife or girlfriend." Jonathan Runy "I couldn't put this book down! It spoke to me and a lifetime of my thinking that I had lost several of my friends because it was my fault. Finally, somebody wrote about the pain of losing a friend as well as the deeper meanings of friendships." Howard Jones "Relationships are the cornerstones of our lives. Losing a friend or family member is one of the biggest traumas we face in life. This collage of stories about losing a friend provides you with tools to deal with your own heartbreak. Whatever your age or situation, you will find this book profoundly interesting as well as touching. Read it to help you with your own friendship issues." Al Wilson

"Remember me with tears and laughter. Remember me though it hurts to do so, because the pain you have is equal to the love we shared. There is no goodbye if you carry me in your heart. Remember all the joy we shared, because there was so much of it for both of us." Herbie Longfellow Alderdice Are you a dog owner who is in the process of losing your best friend to illness? Or have you lost your beloved friend and you are struggling to get over them? Pet bereavement is tough. Not everyone sympathises with you. Jeannie Wycherley chose to write this book after the loss of her beloved boy, Herbie, because she was hurt by the repetition of the phrase, "he was just a dog." She realised that her grief transcended that tired notion - one tritely rolled out by people who think they're being helpful and supportive, failing to realise the guilt and shame many pet owners already experience when they are locked deep in mourning. 'Losing my Best Friend: thoughtful support for those affected by dog bereavement or pet loss' offers practical advice about what to do when your dog passes away, including tips on helping your children or other pets cope with the loss, designing your own ceremony to celebrate your dog's life, and creating memorials. In these pages Jeannie Wycherley has created a loving tribute to Herbie, and delivers support with a light and loving touch that validates what you're going through.

Rev. ed. of: Handbook for mortals / Joanne Lynn, Joan Harrold, and the Center to Improve Care of the Dying, George Washington University. 1999.

A guide for women grieving the end of close friendships cites the myriad reasons that platonic relationships between women are discontinued, in an anecdotal reference that draws on personal testimonies to provide tools for personal assessment and helpful tips.

The loss of an animal companion can be a painful, wrenching experience. In Goodbye, Friend, Gary Kowalski takes you on a journey of healing, offering warmth and sound advice on how to cope with the death of your pet. Filled with heartwarming stories and practical guidance on such matters as taking care of yourself while mourning, creating rituals to honor your pet’s memory, and talking to children about death, Goodbye, Friend is a beautiful and comforting book for anyone grieving the loss of a beloved animal.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the bestselling author of Before We Were Yours comes a dramatic historical novel of three young women searching for family amid the destruction of the post–Civil War South, and of a modern-day teacher who learns of their story and its vital connection to her students’ lives. “An absorbing historical . . . enthralling.”—Library Journal Bestselling author Lisa Wingate brings to life startling stories from actual “Lost Friends” advertisements that appeared in Southern newspapers after the Civil War, as newly freed slaves desperately searched for loved ones who had been sold away. Louisiana, 1875: In the tumultuous era of Reconstruction, three young women set off as unwilling companions on a perilous quest: Hannie, a freed slave; Lavinia, the pampered heir to a now destitute plantation; and Juneau Jane, Lavinia’s Creole half sister. Each carries private wounds and powerful secrets as they head for Texas, following roads rife with vigilantes and soldiers still fighting a war lost a decade before. For Lavinia and Juneau Jane, the journey is one of stolen inheritance and financial desperation, but for Hannie, torn from her mother and siblings before slavery’s end, the pilgrimage west reignites an agonizing question: Could her long-lost family still be out there? Beyond the swamps lie the limitless frontiers of Texas and, improbably, hope. Louisiana, 1987: For first-year teacher Benedetta Silva, a subsidized job at a poor rural school seems like the ticket to canceling her hefty student debt—until she lands in a tiny, out-of-step Mississippi River town. Augustine, Louisiana, is suspicious of new ideas and new people, and Benny can scarcely comprehend the lives of her poverty-stricken students. But amid the gnarled live oaks and run-down plantation homes lie the century-old history of three young women, a long-ago journey, and a hidden book that could change everything.

Challenging conventional wisdom on grief, a pioneering therapist offers a new resource for those experiencing loss When a painful loss or life-shattering event upends your world, here is the first thing to know: there is nothing wrong with grief. “Grief is simply love in its most wild and painful form,” says Megan Devine. “It is a natural and sane response to loss.” So, why does our culture treat grief like a disease to be cured as quickly as possible? In It’s OK That You’re Not OK, Megan Devine offers a profound new approach to both the experience of grief and the way we try to help others who have endured tragedy. Having experienced grief from both sides—as both a therapist and as a woman who witnessed the accidental drowning of her beloved partner—Megan writes with deep insight about the unspoken truths of loss, love, and healing. She debunks the culturally prescribed goal of returning to a normal, “happy” life, replacing it with a far healthier middle path, one that invites us to build a life alongside grief rather than seeking to overcome it. In this compelling and heartful book, you’ll learn: • Why well-meaning advice, therapy, and spiritual wisdom so often end up making it harder for people in grief • How challenging the myths of grief—doing away with stages, timetables, and unrealistic ideals about how grief should unfold—allows us to accept grief as a mystery to be honored instead of a problem to solve • Practical guidance for managing stress, improving sleep, and decreasing anxiety without trying to “fix” your pain • How to help the people you love—with essays to teach us the best skills, checklists, and suggestions for supporting and comforting others through the grieving process Many people who have suffered a loss feel judged, dismissed, and misunderstood by a culture that wants to “solve” grief. Megan writes, “Grief no more needs a solution than love needs a solution.” Through stories, research, life tips, and creative and mindfulness-based practices, she offers a unique guide through an experience we all must face—in our personal lives, in the lives of those we love, and in the wider world. It’s OK That You’re Not OK is a book for grieving people, those who love them, and all those seeking to love themselves—and each other—better.

When Tyler Dunning's best friend is killed in a terrorist attack, the experience forces him to confront grief, depression, and his own destructive tendencies. To cope he turns to travel, wandering the United States and crossing paths with a suicidal shaman, a Cambodian alien hunter, and off-the-grid meth addicts. He weathers an Atlantic hurricane, endures the Black Rock Desert, and attempts summiting Longs Peak, the highest point in northern Colorado, convinced that by overcoming the mountain he can overcome loss. But things do not go as planned. This is a book of goodbyes, of migration, of achieving restoration--a five-year journey founded upon coming-of-age heartache, the loss of innocence, and finding hope in our natural world. Yet just when you think Tyler has come to terms with the passing of more friends--to rare disease, accidental drowning, and self-destruction--you won't believe the final lesson death has in store for him.