Description
Surviving My First Year of Child Loss: Personal Stories from Grieving Parents
The death of a baby, whether through miscarriage, stillbirth or neonatal loss, or the death of an older child, is the worst experience a parent can endure. Parents often don’t know how – or if – they will survive such an earth-shattering event.
This book includes twenty-six heart-wrenchingly honest essays by parents who convey their personal challenges and the ways they coped during the first twelve months after losing a child.
THIS BOOK SHOWS YOU HOW TO:
- Build resilience in the midst of despair and hopelessness
- Nurture your mind, body, and soul as you grieve
- Discover hope without masking the reality of your pain
- Find ways to live with purpose,not just survive
- Feel supported and know that you are not alone
This book also helps friends and family understand a grieving parent’s struggle and how best to provide support.
Let this book be your companion on your grief journey or as you support the bereaved.
Donate
We invite you to consider a donation to help cover the costs of this not-for-profit resource book. Your donation helps provide sponsored copies of our resource books to hospitals, bereavement centres, grief retreats, and other not-for-profit organisations. Donate to the charity arm of Grieving Parents Support Network.
peonielotus (verified owner) –
I thought I’d only be able to read one or two of the essays a day but my reading compulsion took over and I ‘had’ to finish the book. I found the essays easy to read and felt the unique sense of hope and courage in each persons story more than the grief and heartbreak. I instantly felt connected to the other contributers and felt I was in a ‘safe’ place to journey with them but not ‘carry’ them because the essays were giving rather than taking from me emotionally.
The thought of reading the book was quite confronting at first and I had to force myself to start, the first few essays were emotionally difficult but I was determined not to give up. As I read I became consciously aware of the connected/collective grief which enabled me to move through the book more easily. I realised I didn’t need to take on ‘more’ the parent’s grief was the same it was how we managed to take those first few tentative steps away from the epicentre that was different. I had thought that reading the essays would smother me in the grief of others but once I figured out the contributers weren’t emptying their bucket of grief on the reader but filling the readers bucket with love and hope it wasn’t so diificult to travel through the book. Each of the contributors took steps that honoured their child(ren) and their grief. The book has become less a book about grief but more a book about love.
katiestern9 (verified owner) –
The words on these pages are ones that I can connect with. It’s something I haven’t been able to do a lot of over the past 12 months since our son, Toby, died from SIDS. While every grieving parent’s story is different, there are pieces and parts from the stories I had read so far where I can see myself or our family.
This book will help grieving parents, as well as their support networks, better understand the journey of parents who have lost a child.
I have a feeling this will be a book that I will be keeping within close reach, earmarking pages and going back to when I’m having “one of those days” where I need a reminder that I’m truly not alone on this grief journey and that our children are important, each one of them, no matter how long they were with us.
Thank you to each of the authors for sharing your children with us!
t.sunajko (verified owner) –
I have searched for a book that would get me, that I could relate to. I have read many, but this one is the one I was searching for all along. The fact that the essays are individual, personal experiences of parents navigating their life in their first year of child loss gives the grieving parent reading it a whole new perspective. I have found a piece of myself in every story, I have cried and felt with every contributor and I am grateful for their courage to put their hearts on the paper. This book is a beautiful and a much needed resource in the grieving parents community. I know I will always have a spare copy on my bookshelf just in case I need to share it with another parent on this hard journey or a person willing to support a grieving parent. Thank you for this much needed resource.
jak_jamie (verified owner) –
Juts loving this book. I wish it had been around when I lost my angel. It’s such a lonely journey and this book makes it less so. So good to know other people get it to.
saskia1 (verified owner) –
It is as wonderful a book, as a book about something so tragic, can be. Child loss affects many people worldwide and, while we all grieve differently, at least one of these stories will resonate with you and your journey.
It is a great resource for parents, as well as the families of those who have lost a child and covers the loss of a child from any point in pregnancy, right up to adulthood.
If you, or someone close to you, has lost a child, you need to get this book. For them and for you.
joyinlord (verified owner) –
THIS is the book I wish I’d had the first year after my son died.
I love how real, relatable, and heartfelt this book is. Each story reaches out to touch the reader and connect them to the supporting community of loss parents, to let them know they’re NOT alone and that there is, somehow, a way to live without one or more of your children. Each story is bite-sized which allows for easy reading, so while it’s emotional reading, it’s not overwhelming.
laurel (verified owner) –
My daughter is coming up on her 6th birthday… I am not new to grief; however, this book has been amazing for me. It has helped things come to light that I didn’t realize were lingering and holding me back, it has made me understand so much more, and it has given me hope. I would say that my grief path was not too hard, but this has only made it easier. I miss my daughter every day and talk about her often, and find out so many more parents in the same sad community gets me by even more. I would recommend this book to any parent who suffered a loss whether recent or in the past, or even a friend or medical professional of someone who suffered a loss. It speaks to everyone.
jsmith (verified owner) –
With some trepidation I started reading the book, how was I going to react? Would it stir my grief up? I needn’t have worried, I felt I was amongst friends telling our stories. So many stories, all different, but somehow all the same. Something for everyone to take away after reading. The validation of my grief was immense, I am different, but somehow the same as other grieving parents. The stories are heartfelt, open and honest. I have highlighted so much that I can share with the support group a friend and I have just started in our town, different stories grabbing me with bits that resonate with our members. A great read for any parent grieving, no matter how young or old their child was when they lost them.
emily.wetherholt (verified owner) –
This collection of heartfelt stories from loss parents gives an authentic look into the trials and triumphs of the first year. It is at times tender, at times raw, and at times humorous but it has one resounding message: you are not alone.
april_berndt (verified owner) –
This book appeared in my life at such a necessary time. My emotions are raw, having lost our second little boy to stillbirth exactly 2 months ago. This book, the stories of reflection that the contributors so lovingly put out to the world, has been such a comfort as I navigate the pain, both physically and emotionally. Reading these pages, I’m gratefully reminded that I am not alone. Many times while reading I have found myself nodding through the tears, in agreement or understanding. Feeling a connection to these writers whom I’ve never met. Getting it, and feeling gotten. I wish not a single one of these parents have been where I am, because I know how much it hurts. I appreciate the work that has gone into creating this resource. The recognition it has provided that there is no one-size-fits-all, there is no set timeline to heal, but what there is, is hope. For all of that and so much more, I thank you all.
shannonbensalah (verified owner) –
When you first realize that your life has changed forever, it is hard to know where to go or who to turn to. It’s times like these that Surviving My First Year of Child Loss plays an important role. The first year is hard to even begin to describe. But each of these parents articulate their stories and their child’s stories in a way that makes you feel as though you aren’t alone because you aren’t. I strongly urge you if you’re experiencing the loss of a child of any age to pick up this book. There will be someone that you can relate to. If you’re a friend looking for a book to somehow understand more what your friend is experiencing this is the book. You can always pass this along to a friend grieving their child because though they may not read it right away they will be eternally grateful. Five years later, there are still times where it feels like it was yesterday and on those days, I’ve found myself trying to find someone who I can relate to. No matter how many times you read it; depending on where you are in your grief the stories will touch you differently (even the same story read again).
dacrocker77 (verified owner) –
I have enjoyed reading this book. Reading other grieving parents stories helps me understand that I am not alone in this very lonely path of life after the death of our son. It has been helpful to read each story and know my thoughts and feelings are valid. It is also helpful to see that these parents are surviving and trying to live again. That living is possible even when it seems so hard on a day to day basis. Thank you for compiling these stories into a wonderful resource for grieving families.
lindsey.lynch16 (verified owner) –
As a contributor I am honored and proud to be apart of this much needed resource book. As I am making my way through this book, I am able to find comfort in the words of each of their children’s stories. Each story is uniquely different but they all consist of the same message of love, loss, hope, grief, and survival. I have gotten a glimpse into each of their children’s lives and each of them have become apart of my life. This book is for the newly Bereaved parent, friends and family of the grieving and everyone else.