Description:
It's never comfortable to read, or even think, about grief. And Love Never Dies is many things--eloquent, sweet, touching, and powerful--but it is definitely not an easy read. Sandy Goodman has taken brave steps past Kübler-Ross's work (On Death and Dying), and here she challenges us to open ourselves to a different set of stages that she labels numbness, unrelenting pain, searching, and reinventing. She writes with comforting openness about pretending that she was progressing through the standard stages, was "getting over" the death of her son, and was searching for a more clearly defined faith. She also is frank about the real need to continue acknowledging birthdays as well as the anniversary of death, and provides a few specific suggestions for friends to help those going through grief, such as asking, "How are you really doing since [he] died," instead of merely, "How are you?" Each chapter closes with a short message in bold print, written from the point of view of Goodman's dead son, Jason. She clarifies in the introduction that this is not channeling or automatic writing, merely her best guess as to what he might have to add to her own thoughts. Regardless of your point of view on these additions, it is clear that Jason is continually present to his family. While the particular focus of the book relates to parental grief, much of it is both useful and appropriate for anyone dealing with a powerful loss. --Jill Lightner
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