For a parent, losing a child is the most devastating event that can occur. Most books on the subject focus on grieving and recovery, but as most parents agree, there is no recovery from such a loss. This book examines the continued love parents feel for their child and the many poignant and ingenious ways they devise to preserve the bond. Through detailed profiles of parents, Ann Finkbeiner shows how new activities and changed relationships with their spouse, friends, and other children can all help parents preserve a bond with the lost child. Refusing to fall back on pop jargon about "recovery" or to offer easy suggestions or standardized timelines, Finkbeiner's is a genuine and moving search to come to terms with loss. Her complex profiles of parents resonate with the honesty and authenticity of uncomfortable emotions expressed and, most importantly, shared with others experiencing a similar loss. Finally, each profile exemplifies the many heroic ways parents learn to live with their pain, and by so doing, honor the lives their children should have lived.

“A gripping and beautiful book about the power of love in the face of unimaginable loss.” --Cheryl Strayed For readers of The Bright Hour and When Breath Becomes Air, a moving, transcendent memoir of loss and a stunning exploration of marriage in the wake of unimaginable grief. As the book opens: two-year-old Greta Greene is sitting with her grandmother on a park bench on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. A brick crumbles from a windowsill overhead, striking her unconscious, and she is immediately rushed to the hospital. But although it begins with this event and with the anguish Jayson and his wife, Stacy, confront in the wake of their daughter's trauma and the hours leading up to her death, Once More We Saw Stars quickly becomes a narrative that is as much about hope and healing as it is about grief and loss. Jayson recognizes, even in the midst of his ordeal, that there will be a life for him beyond it--that if only he can continue moving forward, from one moment to the next, he will survive what seems unsurvivable. With raw honesty, deep emotion, and exquisite tenderness, he captures both the fragility of life and absoluteness of death, and most important of all, the unconquerable power of love. This is an unforgettable memoir of courage and transformation--and a book that will change the way you look at the world.

The author of the top-selling Sad Isn’t Bad: A Good-Grief Guidebook for Kids Dealing With Loss here helps children as they first experience the reality—and the mystery—of death and funerals. She carefully explains to children how we celebrate the life of a departed one through both sadness and joy. A sampling of the titles of the various booklet sections: Why Do People Die? Does It Hurt to Die? What Happens at the Funeral Home? What Will It Be Like at the Church Service? What Happens at the Cemetery? What Can I Do About My Sad Feelings? What Will Heaven Be Like? When Will Everything Be OK Again? Through her experience as a counselor, teacher, mother, and accomplished children’s author, Michaelene Mundy here offers a loving and truly helpful guide for kids.

The death of a child is a special sorrow. No matter the circumstances, a child's death is a life-altering experience. Except for the child who dies suddenly and without forewarning, physicians, nurses, and other medical personnel usually play a central role in the lives of children who die and their families. At best, these professionals will exemplify "medicine with a heart." At worst, families' encounters with the health care system will leave them with enduring painful memories, anger, and regrets. When Children Die examines what we know about the needs of these children and their families, the extent to which such needs areâ€"and are notâ€"being met, and what can be done to provide more competent, compassionate, and consistent care. The book offers recommendations for involving child patients in treatment decisions, communicating with parents, strengthening the organization and delivery of services, developing support programs for bereaved families, improving public and private insurance, training health professionals, and more. It argues that taking these steps will improve the care of children who survive as well as those who do notâ€"and will likewise help all families who suffer with their seriously ill or injured child. Featuring illustrative case histories, the book discusses patterns of childhood death and explores the basic elements of physical, emotional, spiritual, and practical care for children and families experiencing a child's life-threatening illness or injury.

“When a Child Dies From Drugs” is written by parents to help other parents who are experiencing the ultimate tragedy of their child’s death from drugs or alcohol - parents who find themselves isolated in a fathomless dark void wondering whether they will ever resurface into the real world again. This book offers strength, practical advice and an aid in grief recovery for parents and families, gleaned not only from personal experiences but also from meeting with many parents through their out-reach program,"G.R.A.S.P."(Grief Recovery After Substance Passing) Subjects covered range from the emotional trauma of learning of the child’s demise and on through the guilt, denial, anger, “what-if’s” and, finally, acceptance and to suggestions of how to cope daily and into a future which will never be the same. It is also illuminating to all those who know someone who has lost a loved one through drugs -What to say and do? What NOT to say and do? There is advice here for those who want to support families in grief. With personal insights this book is very much like friends reaching out to friends in compassion and kindness - friends who understand because, quite simply, the writers continue to be on the same journey as those they will comfort.

A Broken Heart Still Beats Softcover