Healing Through Words: How to Cope with Grief and Move Forward in Life - A Guide for Overcoming Loss and Finding Peace

My beautiful, dearest son, David, was diagnosed with leukemia at age 2 1/2 . Chemotherapy & radiation left him retarded and epileptic. For nearly 33 years, we battled his epilepsy. One morning, in 2009, he was gone. He passed away from an overwhelming seizure that shut down all of his systems in an instant. He had beaten cancer, only to lose his life to the side/effects of the cure.David's survival was never taken for granted, but his loss was shocking. We had done everything to keep him alive, but it wasn't enough. Our whole family was devastated. We've tried to help each other (I have six other children), but, each person grieves in his/her own way. And, there is a point where children can no longer help a mom. I have spent the last two years meeting every mother I could who has lost a child. I was trying to figure out how to survive this unthinkable loss. I read probably forty books on grieving.. I saw every film I could showing the loss of a child. Time has helped. But, recently I read "Giving Sorrow Word" and it had a profound effect on me. I felt like the author was speaking directly to me. Candance Lightner explained to me how and why I was feeling the way I was. She very clearly described all aspects of grief. I learned it was normal to feel insane. I learned the kind of people to avoid; to ask for what I need; to understand I would never, ever get over this loss, but that the rest of my life would be tolerable. Candance wrote from her heart and from what she learned from speaking with and researching what others say about grief. Of all the books I have read, this is the best book on grieving and "recovery" because it is clear, honest, and even hopeful.The only other book I would recommend beside "Giving Sorrow Words," is "A Broken Heart Still Beats", because it has excerpts from great writers - Mark Twain, Edgar Alan Poe, etc - who've written about losing their own children. Reading what amounts to poetry by brilliant writers was illuminating and comforting. But, it was "Giving Sorrow Words" that gave me the greatest clarity. - Pepper Edmiston, California