The Bottom Line
The Grieving Garden: Living with the Death of a Child by Suzanne Redfern and Susan K. Gilbert is a compassionate comprehensive look at the road a parent who has lost a child needs to travel, then takes them there using the experiences of others who have gone before them. If you or someone you know has lost a child, this book is one of the best self-help for grieving parents books out there today.
Pros
- Gives practical advice.
- Compassionately written.
- Helps parents understand their feelings.
Cons
- Could list a few more outside resources.
Description
- Organized by issue, for example: Responding to Sympathy and Battling the Guilt.
- Book contains stories from parents of children of all ages.
- Practical advice given through real life inspiring examples.
- Shows through example that everyone handles the death of a child differently and that is expected - you're normal.
- Every grieving parent will find an example to relate to and thereby not feel so alone.
Guide Review - The Grieving Garden: Living with the Death of a Child
Book Description
Every year, some two million parents in the U.S. suffer the death of a son or daughter. The unnatural sequence of the child's preceding the parent in death creates a wrenching loss and overwhelming emotional and spiritual disorientation. Most of these bereaved parents find relief from their isolation only in the company of others like themselves. The Grieving Garden offers the support, understanding, and ultimately comfort and hope, from those who have shed the same tears over the death of a child.
Every year, some two million parents in the U.S. suffer the death of a son or daughter. The unnatural sequence of the child's preceding the parent in death creates a wrenching loss and overwhelming emotional and spiritual disorientation. Most of these bereaved parents find relief from their isolation only in the company of others like themselves. The Grieving Garden offers the support, understanding, and ultimately comfort and hope, from those who have shed the same tears over the death of a child.
The Grieving Garden is a ground-breaking book that invites bereaved parents into personal conversations with a diverse group of fathers and mothers who share the same loss. The text is free of distracting and heavy-handed editorializing, expert opinion, or unwanted advice. Instead, readers are welcomed into a community of common understanding one they may enter at will, at their own pace, for reassurance and hope.
Denise’s thoughts:
There is nothing harder, all parents agree, than the loss of a child. While I cannot guarantee that this book can make the pain of this loss bearable - I have lost two children that I helped raise and the pain is still there - it will help grieving parents start on their way to healing.
