Where I Live Now is an honest and beautifully almost poetically written account of Sharon Butala’s experience of the death of her beloved Peter, and her leaving the home and wide-open spaces she had grown to love. Her moving into a new and very different urban life is a testimony to her resilience and hope.
A Time to Grieve is simply one of my favourite books on grief. A small book that doesn’t require the reader to read it from beginning to end. The author, Carol Staudacher, organizes it into short readings, all with a heading, a quote, a reflection and then a what-to-do-now statement. When I co-facilitated a bereavement group we began each meeting with one of the leaders reading from this book.
Healing a Spouse’s Grieving Heart is one of a series of similar books. Other titles include…Each Practical Idea gives the reader a nudge, saying essentially “you could try this”. The Carpe Diem statement at the end acts as push saying “do this today”. I (Ruth) had the privilege of hearing Dr. Wolfelt speak early in my career and quote him with nearly every grieving client. A wise man, both thoughtful and practical.
I (Ruth) purchased my copy of Life after Loss when I became Suddenly Single, not realizing that the author was a respected voice in the world of grief and loss. The title spoke to me. A Practical Guide to Renewing Your Life after Experiencing a Major Loss — that was what I needed, renewal. Bob Diets acknowledges early on in the book that divorce can be “no less shocking than that of death” (p. 17). His Four Key Facts about Grief are vital for all recovery.
Widow to Widow was recommended to me by a grieving client as one that had been particularly helpful, practical and wise. I highly recommend the chapter Uncoupling which poignantly addresses one of the most painful realities of unwelcome singleness — how to be one in a world that, in many ways, operates by twos.
How to Go on Living is a more general grief book, somewhat a classic. Published in 1988 and originally titled Grieving, Dr. Rando writes about grief in a readable, personal tone — i.e. your grief — but in a teacherly manner. None of us reach the end of our lives without grieving and yet, we know little about grief itself.
