A Season Of Grief

"Where do you turn for daily comfort and help? Where do you find the tools to move forward? Through a Season of Grief is the first 365-day devotional designed to support and uplift you in the first, most difficult year of bereavement."--Page 4 of cover

A collection of quotations, personal reflections and prayers intended for those who find themselves in their own "season of grief". The insights and stories from Ann Dawson's own experience after the death of her son are carefully placed alongside the comforting and often inspiring words of writers like C.S. Lewis and Kahlil Gibran.

Your heart is crushed. Finding it even difficult to breathe, you wake up to the reality that someone you treasure is gone. Death has stolen your loved one from your arms. Now the seemingly insurmountable difficult work of living through grief begins. Is there anything that can soothe this overwhelming ache? Is there a safe place for the anger? Will depression become a constant companion? Does the painful malaise last forever? How can I just get through the day? Comfort for the Day offers a personalized grief recovery experience, drawn from the source of all comfort– God. His Word will become a guide and friend as the reader lives through the confusing and painful seasons of grief. Comfort for the Day is what each grieving heart longs for. Used either as a gift for the bereaved or for your own personal needs, Comfort for the Day brings real help for really hurting people.

This unique book celebrates a long-term, interracial relationship and details the everyday struggles of a surviving partner trying to carry on in a radically changed world. A Season of Grief chronicles the author's emotional descent after the violent death of his partner of 21 years. Bill Valentine's journal of fear, anger, denial, and loneliness captures the glimmers of hope, moments of serendipity, and mysterious coincidences that emerged from his full-time devotion to grief following the death of Joe Lopes. Lopes died along with 264 others when American Airlines Flight 587 crashed in November 2001 in route to the Dominican Republic. It was the second deadliest accident in U.S. aviation history. He is a word always on my lips as I try to work him into a conversation. He is a memory that I strive to keep alive. So yes, in this sense, he is not gone. But in reality, he is. He is gone as my lover. He is gone as my life partner. He is gone as my soul mate, the only person to whom I periodically bared my soul. He is gone as my best friend, the only person to whom I ever attached that label. So pardon me while I still hang on to the notion that he is not here with me. Pardon me while I cling stubbornly to the insistence that he is gone. Valentine's candid and thoughtful account of his heartbreaking efforts to make sense of his partner's death—and survive in a world without him—is by turns, funny, frightening, sobering, and surprising. In the nine months following the tragedy of Flight 587, Valentine finds every waking moment of his life affected by his partner's absence—from mundane household chores to major life decisions. A Season of Grief is a story told in darkness and light, of hurt and healing, love and loneliness, but mostly, of a man who learns to live with his partner's absence through the persistent, surprising evidence of his presence. Our job on earth is to live with uncertainty, ambiguity, and hope. We are given a limited tool set but one, in my opinion, that's sufficient for the job. Sufficient to allow us to be engaged in life-to love, grieve, work, play, celebrate, and despair. We have a remarkable ability to rebound and grow. We have been granted the capacity for wonder and laughter—especially at ourselves. These last two gifts were bestowed generously on Joe and he, in turn, taught me how vital they are. Making a strong case for gay marriage, A Season of Grief chronicles Valentine's struggles to be recognized as a surviving spouse, including a historic lawsuit with Lambda Legal Defense and Education fund against the New York State Workers Compensation Board. Valentine and Lopes took every conceivable step to formalize their relationship, including New York City Domestic Partnership, but the Workers Compensation Board and a New York State appeals court refused to recognize Valentine as a legal surviving spouse. Grief doesn't come with a set of instructions. But A Season of Grief can help guide you through the lonely journey that follows the death of a loved one. Valentine's memoir is a testament to the healing power of reality and the enduring nature of love.

People who are mourning the loss of a dear friend or beloved family member often feel alone, abandoned, and helpless. And those who want to comfort them can feel inadequate and at a loss for words. In Everyday Comfort grievers will find thirty daily devotions to help them through their heartache. Respecting the griever's anguish and emotional turmoil, these devotions avoid platitudes and offer genuine empathy and wisdom. Subjects like recovery, facing death, normal grief and abnormal grief, and using the Psalms daily will help those who grieve examine the path through despair and take the next steps toward living life again.

Drawing on the successful national recovery program GriefShare, grief experts offer practical direction and hope in the face of loss.

Deeply bonded to her three older brothers and in awe of her father's experiences as a Holocaust survivor, young Ruby is shocked when her eldest brother is abruptly taken away to a hospital, where he changes into a person she barely recognizes. 35,000 first printing.

Seasons come and go, but Wynter seemed to leave too soon. When Jonathan Pitts took his wife of 15 years into his arms for their anniversary dance, he had no idea that within a month he would be on a completely different journey, navigating life after Wynter's sudden death at the age of 38. One moment he was married to a successful author and magazine publisher, and putting the finishing touches on their book about marriage. The next he was a widower and a single father of four grieving daughters. Without warning, the future his family had planned together dissolved, leaving Jonathan trying to answer the question that echoed through his daughters’ hearts and his own: How could a loving God allow this unspeakable loss? My Wynter Season is Jonathan’s story of losing the most wonderful gift he had ever been given and his journey toward understanding life without her. Yet in the wilderness of his grief, Jonathan found himself surrounded by God’s extravagant love, and came to truly understand Christ’s life-giving promise that death is not the end.

With compassionate insight, this handbook helps those in mourning through what can be the hardest time of year—the holiday season. Mourners will better understand their complex emotions after reading about such topics as honoring thoughts and feelings, creating new traditions, finding ways to de-stress, and incorporating healing rituals into the holiday season. This book's practical wisdom also covers issues such as decision-making during the holidays and coping with the blending of mourning and celebration. All of the answers and advice in this guide are provided in the popular 100 ideas format that features one idea per page, allowing readers to fully absorb each suggestion.

Joy Becomes a Queen is based on the author's own childhood experiences. As a young girl, Elisha Danzik loved dressing up like a princess and imagining herself as one. But even still, she found herself feeling insecure about her outward appearance. Through her journey in pageants, Elisha learned that a crown and dress doesn't make you royalty - but the way you act can impact and inspire others. Elisha believes that every girl can be a queen. In this engaging short story, Joy finds the true meaning of royalty and discovers what it means to be transformed from a self-focused Princess to a Queen who lives for the good of others. After all, "Princesses look in the mirror, but Queens look at their kingdom." Elisha Joy is a 17 year old professional model, digital creator, and pageant queen. She has held multiple pageant titles, and was crowned the Miss Colorado Teen in 2020. Elisha hosts her own podcast called "The Royal You," and speaks on topics such as confidence, leadership, and self-respect. She has been speaking publicly since she was 6 years old and feels blessed to share this story God has given her. Elisha is passionate about using her digital and pageant platforms to inspire women of all ages to step into their royal identity.