Crossing the Owl’s Bridge uses the wisdom of worldwide folk tales to demonstrate how to share, ritualize, and transform grief. Each chapter describes psychological tasks as communicated through folk tales, offers stories about others, and provides guidelines for application. The premise is that although we do have to say goodbye to our material relationship, we are also being presented with a chance to say hello to a different type of relationship. Crossing the Owl’s Bridge illustrates creative outcomes to mourning that allow one to recognize, contain, release, and yet stay in relationship and keep loving. Kim Bateman, Ph.D., has facilitated grief workshops and taught courses in Death and Dying for over 20 years. Her research interests include bereavement, organizational psychology, and humor, and she has presented over 60 projects in the behavioral sciences at regional and national psychology conferences. Dr. Bateman has delivered many notable keynote addresses, including: “There’s a Fox Under My Bed and Pixie Dust in My Hair,” at the Developmental Psychology Conference, “The Psychology of Humor” at the Women’s Wellness Conference, and “College Culture Through the Song Lyrics of Bob Marley,” at the Community College League of California convention. She recently presented a TEDx talk called “Singing Over Bones.” Dr. Bateman serves as the executive dean of the Tahoe-Truckee Campus of Sierra College.

The bestselling poet Malcolm Guite chooses forty poems from across the centuries that express the universal experience of loss and reflects on them in order to draw out the comfort, understanding and hope they offer. Some of the poems will be familiar, many will be new, but together they provide a sure companion for the journey across difficult terrain. Some of Malcolm’s own poetry is included, written out of his work as a priest with the dying and the bereaved and giving to the volume a powerful authenticity. The choice of forty poems is significant and reflects an ancient practice still observed in some European and Middle Eastern societies of taking extra-special care of a bereaved person in the forty days following a death – our word quarantine come from this. They explore the nature and the risk of love, the pain of letting go and look toward glimpses of resurrection.

Passed and Present is a one-of-a-kind guide for discovering creative and meaningful ways to keep the memory of loved ones alive. Inspiring and imaginative, this bona fide "how-to” manual teaches us how to remember those we miss most, no matter how long they’ve been gone. Passed and Present is not about sadness and grieving. It is about happiness and remembering. It is possible to look forward, to live a rich and joyful life, while keeping the memory of loved ones alive. This much-needed, easy-to-use roadmap shares 85 imaginative ways to celebrate and honor family and friends we never want to forget. Chapter topics include: Repurpose With Purpose: Ideas for transforming objects and heirlooms. Discover ways to reimagine photographs, jewelry, clothing, letters, recipes, and virtually any inherited item or memento. Use Technology: Strategies for your daily, digital life. Opportunities for using computers, scanners, printers, apps, mobile devices, and websites. Not Just Holidays: Tips for remembrance any time of year, day or night, whenever you feel that pull, be it a loved one’s birthday, an anniversary, or just a moment when a memory catches you by surprise. Monthly Guide: Christmas, Thanksgiving, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and other special times of year present unique challenges and opportunities. This chapter provides exciting ideas for making the most of them while keeping your loved one’s memory alive. Places to Go: Destinations around the world where reflecting and honoring loved ones is a communal activity. This concept is called Commemorative Travel. Also included are suggestions for incorporating aspects of these foreign traditions into your practices at home. Being proactive about remembering loved ones has a powerful and unexpected benefit: it can make you happier. The more we incorporate memories into our year-round lives as opposed to sectioning them off to a particular time of year, the more we can embrace the people who have passed, and all that’s good and fulfilling in our present. With beautiful illustrations throughout by artist Jennifer Orkin Lewis,Passed and Present also includes an introduction by Hope Edelman, bestselling author of Motherless Daughters.

A couple who has faced the bitter task of burying two of their three children explores the family dynamics involved when a loved one dies, showing how grief can pull a family closer together rather than tearing it apart. Original.