We live in a grief-avoidance society and the sensitive topics of death and grief are still the elephant in the room. Death is inevitable and will visit every household at some point, but because it's not required learning, such as CPR, the 911 system, emergency evacuation, and the like, we are unfamiliar and unprepared to deal with it when it knocks on the door. We don't know what to say or what not to say to someone who is grieving the loss of a dear love one. In most cases, we say all the wrong things, such as "I understand how you feel." This unscheduled event has placed itself on your calendar, crossed your doorstep, and entered your home without permission. You can't change, delete, postpose, reschedule, or evict it. It doesn't discriminate against race, creed, color, religion, nationality, gender, age, sexual orientation or cause of death. It grants you membership into a club that you never asked to join. This inevitable occasion of death has taken possession of the core essence of your existence... now what How do you accept that life as it was will never be the same again? How do you describe the pain, despair, loneliness to others? Why do people say all the wrong things, such as I understand how you feel, or It just takes time, or You should be over it by now or It was just God's will? Might it make things better if they said nothing at all, or simply I don't know what to say, but I am here for you? It's a dark and lonely place. A wilderness where you will encounter crooked paths, wrong turns, dead ends, scattered debris, seemingly no way out. How do you find the light, the peace, the comfort that you so desperately seek, or does it even exist? Will the pain ever go away? Will you live, thrive, or love again? Why do we grieve anyway? We grieve because we loved. To grieve is not selfish, as many might indicate. It is the normal and natural response to loss. It is your own personal, unique response to the love that you shared with your loved one. Dora Carpenter says that just like the cocoon's tenacity and perseverance causes the transformation to a beautiful butterfly, so can you. She says it doesn't have to take many years to be held hostage and victim to the emotional, physical, and spiritual pain of unresolved grief. No, life as it was will never be the same again, but life going forward matters, it counts, and you have an obligation to live it for the rest of your life. If you choose to do the work, you can find meaning and purpose in your life going forward. What is this thing called the grief work, the new normal, the renewal, the rebirth? Dora Carpenter's grief coaching model helps you navigate the grief journey so that you can move from pain to peace, heartbreak to happiness, and grief to gratitude in the shortest time possible. She inspires and empowers you to live a fulfilled life of meaning and purpose while creating the legacy that you will be remembered for. She says, "Embrace all that life has to offer you, celebrate each baby step along the way, and find gratitude in the gift of now. From Grief to Gratitude: We Grieve Because We Loved is written for those grieving the loss of a loved one as well as those supporting others who are grieving. The author shares her personal and death care industry experience and coach training to address this diminished, often silenced topic. A recommended resource for every household. "Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly." - Anonymous

Patterning is fun, easy and relaxing. It is a great way to add interest and texture to any design. Whether you like to journal, draw, doodle, design, or craft, you'll find a world of inspiration here. These decorative borders, frames, shapes, and alphabets will appeal to a spectrum of tastes and styles.

Gratitude In Grief chronicles a mother's journey into the unimaginable-the death of her son. This is a personal journal of reflection in the days following the death, and the unexpected approach she took in dealing with her grief that changed her forever. To the surprise of many, this mother made a choice to look for "one little thing" to be thankful for each day while coping with her loss. She survived by cataloguing every small blessing she saw-from feeling grateful for her relationship with God to being thankful that she had a few hours alone to fall apart and grieve. Each blessing was a message that hope is never lost and love never dies. This daily gratitude changed the process of her grief, but also sparked a reflection on life, purpose, and faith that has changed the author forever. By documenting the events surrounding her son's death in the days and months afterward, Kelly Buckley gives readers a firsthand glimpse at the unbreakable bonds of love, the power of gratitude and the freedom that purpose in your life grants you. Through heartache and humor it provides hope and a nontraditional path through grief for those suffering loss in their own lives. An absolute read for anyone experiencing loss and a wake-up call for others to be present in your life, to listen to your inner voice, and to live your life to the fullest. In Gratitude in Grief, Buckley poetically shares her journey with readers, chronicling the challenges and the setbacks, as well as the moments of grace she found in the midst of grief. Her book will reassure others that they don't have to be alone in their pain and set them on the path to healing.

Bennett offers advice for those experiencing grief.

From Grief to Gratitude gently guides you through a simple but profound process of self-discovery combined with meditations that will facilitate your personal shift from grief to gratitude. You will rediscover your self, your purpose, and passions as you learn how to let go of the past and embrace the present—reclaiming your life and getting back to you! Marion Turner shares the steps that took her on this profound journey over ten years, resulting in a state of gratitude and acceptance of life for what it is. Whether you are grieving the loss of a loved one, the loss of a relationship, the loss of health, or any other thing of importance to you, this book will help you make sense of your state of being and reactivity, which will restore clarity, peace, and joy to your life. Honour what you have lost by living your life to its fullest, living with purpose and on purpose! This is a book about awareness, acceptance, forgiveness, self-compassion, gratitude, and joy.

This book is a life raft in a grief storm. From the first gripping chapter, when Debbie's husband dies expectedly in her arms, she takes readers by the hand and offers them gentle insights for healing and hope, while sharing her powerful story of loss. As a psychotherapist specializing in trauma and grief, Debbie and her wisdom can help you too.

After 25 years of caring for children, first as a nurse, then as a pediatrician, Carolyn Roy-Bornstein finds herself on the other side of the stretcher when her 17-year-old son Neil is hit by a teenage drunk driver while walking his girlfriend Trista home after a study date. Trista did not survive her injuries. Neil carries his with him to this day. Gratitude for her son’s survival ultimately gives way to grief. While initially told Neil’s only injury was a broken leg, Roy-Bornstein quickly finds herself riding in the front seat of an ambulance transporting her son to the ICU at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston; his brain is bleeding. Roy-Bornstein is now not the patient’s doctor or nurse but his mom. The world she so easily navigates in a white uniform or a white coat now must be traversed, understood, and dealt with from the perspective of a parent. There are many dividing lines in this story. The line that divides this family’s life in two: the events that occurred before the crash and those that came tumbling and faltering in its wake. The line that separates grief from gratitude: gratitude that her son is alive and as whole as he is; grief for his loss of memory and changed personality and for having his whole world shattered in an instant. The line that separates the world Roy-Bornstein knew so well as a doctor from the new one she must now navigate as the parent of a trauma victim. In these pages she explores all of these boundaries: between then and now, grief and gratitude, before and after, us and them. Her many years as a "medical insider" bring her story authenticity and detail, while her newcomer status as the parent of a trauma victim add poignancy and warmth in this first memoir.