A is for Alex: A Bereaved Mother's Promise to Her Beloved Son
A is for Alex: A Bereaved Mother's Promise to Her Beloved Son

Author: Lesley Roberts

Publisher: Cherish Editions

Published: 2021-11-25

Total Pages: 166

ISBN-13: 9781913615475

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When a police officer knocked on Lesley Roberts' door on 25 November 2017, her life changed forever. She learned that her eldest son Alex had died by suicide - and she would soon receive an email explaining why. Since then, Lesley has spent years learning to live alongside her grief. Her memoir captures the trauma of losing a child, but also shows how she has moved forward and begun to learn to live with her pain, while trying to help others find light in the dark. Lesley Roberts' book draws attention to the not-so-common reason that led her son to end his own life, as well as the ever-increasing number of suicides happening in the UK and North America. The truth is, any parent could be in Lesley's situation, and any man could be in Alex's - and for this reason, this book is an important read. It serves as a guide for parents and those who support them in the wake of their child's death. But it also sheds light on Alex's story and can make other men in the same situation feel less alone.

All Gone
All Gone

Author: Alex Witchel

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2012-09-27

Total Pages: 169

ISBN-13: 1101596996

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A daughter’s longing love letter to a mother who has slipped beyond reach. Just past seventy, Alex Witchel’s smart, adoring, ultracapable mother began to exhibit undeniable signs of dementia. Her smart, adoring, ultracapable daughter reacted as she’d been raised: If something was broken, they would fix it. But as medical reality undid that hope, and her mother continued the torturous process of disappearing in plain sight, Witchel retreated to the kitchen, trying to reclaim her mother at the stove by cooking the comforting foods of her childhood: “Is there any contract tighter than a family recipe?” Reproducing the perfect meat loaf was no panacea, but it helped Witchel come to terms with her predicament, the growing phenomenon of “ambiguous loss ”— loss of a beloved one who lives on. Gradually she developed a deeper appreciation for all the ways the parent she was losing lived on in her, starting with the daily commandment “Tell me everything that happened today” that started a future reporter and writer on her way. And she was inspired to turn her experience into this frank, bittersweet, and surprisingly funny account that offers true balm for an increasingly familiar form of heartbreak.

Farther Along
Farther Along

Author: Carol Henderson

Publisher:

Published: 2012-08-01

Total Pages:

ISBN-13: 9780996098427

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Carol Henderson tells the spellbinding story of how her one-day writing workshop for bereaved mothers turned into an ongoing journey of self-discovery and healing for 13 women who had lost children. Each woman brought to the group a powerful story of loss and bereavement, and each discovered the sustaining power of reflective writing. The women's stories, harrowing and poignant, are rendered both by Henderson and by the women themselves--the book includes generous portions of their own writing. Farther Along is at once the history of an evolving writers group, and a detailed guide for group leaders and facilitators who are interested in using writing as a tool for healing.

Once More We Saw Stars
Once More We Saw Stars

Author: Jayson Greene

Publisher: Vintage

Published: 2019-05-14

Total Pages: 258

ISBN-13: 1524733547

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“A gripping and beautiful book about the power of love in the face of unimaginable loss.” --Cheryl Strayed For readers of The Bright Hour and When Breath Becomes Air, a moving, transcendent memoir of loss and a stunning exploration of marriage in the wake of unimaginable grief. As the book opens: two-year-old Greta Greene is sitting with her grandmother on a park bench on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. A brick crumbles from a windowsill overhead, striking her unconscious, and she is immediately rushed to the hospital. But although it begins with this event and with the anguish Jayson and his wife, Stacy, confront in the wake of their daughter's trauma and the hours leading up to her death, Once More We Saw Stars quickly becomes a narrative that is as much about hope and healing as it is about grief and loss. Jayson recognizes, even in the midst of his ordeal, that there will be a life for him beyond it--that if only he can continue moving forward, from one moment to the next, he will survive what seems unsurvivable. With raw honesty, deep emotion, and exquisite tenderness, he captures both the fragility of life and absoluteness of death, and most important of all, the unconquerable power of love. This is an unforgettable memoir of courage and transformation--and a book that will change the way you look at the world.

What Comes After
What Comes After

Author: Steve Watkins

Publisher: Candlewick Press

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 349

ISBN-13: 0763642509

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When her veterinarian father dies, sixteen-year-old Iris Wight must move from Maine to North Carolina where her Aunt Sue spends Iris's small inheritance while abusing her physically and emotionally, but the hardest to take is her mistreatment of the farmanimals.

The Sense of an Ending
The Sense of an Ending

Author: Julian Barnes

Publisher: Vintage

Published: 2011-10-05

Total Pages: 158

ISBN-13: 0307957330

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BOOKER PRIZE WINNER • NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A novel that follows a middle-aged man as he contends with a past he never much thought about—until his closest childhood friends return with a vengeance: one of them from the grave, another maddeningly present. A novel so compelling that it begs to be read in a single setting, The Sense of an Ending has the psychological and emotional depth and sophistication of Henry James at his best, and is a stunning achievement in Julian Barnes's oeuvre. Tony Webster thought he left his past behind as he built a life for himself, and his career has provided him with a secure retirement and an amicable relationship with his ex-wife and daughter, who now has a family of her own. But when he is presented with a mysterious legacy, he is forced to revise his estimation of his own nature and place in the world.

I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die
I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die

Author: Sarah J. Robinson

Publisher: WaterBrook

Published: 2021-05-11

Total Pages: 257

ISBN-13: 0593193539

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A compassionate, shame-free guide for your darkest days “A one-of-a-kind book . . . to read for yourself or give to a struggling friend or loved one without the fear that depression and suicidal thoughts will be minimized, medicalized or over-spiritualized.”—Kay Warren, cofounder of Saddleback Church What happens when loving Jesus doesn’t cure you of depression, anxiety, or suicidal thoughts? You might be crushed by shame over your mental illness, only to be told by well-meaning Christians to “choose joy” and “pray more.” So you beg God to take away the pain, but nothing eases the ache inside. As darkness lingers and color drains from your world, you’re left wondering if God has abandoned you. You just want a way out. But there’s hope. In I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die, Sarah J. Robinson offers a healthy, practical, and shame-free guide for Christians struggling with mental illness. With unflinching honesty, Sarah shares her story of battling depression and fighting to stay alive despite toxic theology that made her afraid to seek help outside the church. Pairing her own story with scriptural insights, mental health research, and simple practices, Sarah helps you reconnect with the God who is present in our deepest anguish and discover that you are worth everything it takes to get better. Beautifully written and full of hard-won wisdom, I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die offers a path toward a rich, hope-filled life in Christ, even when healing doesn’t look like what you expect.

I Promise It Won't Always Hurt Like This
I Promise It Won't Always Hurt Like This

Author: Clare Mackintosh

Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc.

Published: 2024-03-19

Total Pages: 166

ISBN-13: 1728281202

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New York Times and international bestselling mystery author Clare Mackintosh makes her nonfiction debut with this deeply felt memoir of unfathomable loss, and infinite hope. "Grief has run through my life like thread through fabric; at times gossamer-thin and barely there, other times weaving thick, clumsy darns across the rips. In my grief I am a mother, a child, a sister, a wife, a woman, a friend. I am also a writer." When Clare Mackintosh lost her five-week-old son, she soon discovered there are no neat, labeled stages of grief like so many books insist. The shape of each loss is different; when a parent, relative, or friend passes, we grieve the person in all their beauty, their humanity, their imperfections. For Clare, there was no preparing for the anger and excruciating ache of knowing her child's life would remain unlived. This is the book she needed then. Inspired by a viral Twitter thread Clare wrote on the anniversary of her son's death, this deeply honest, compassionate memoir will bring solace and encouragement to anyone who finds themselves walking with grief, whether for a season or for several years. It is for those who need a little voice saying: I Promise It Won't Always Hurt Like This, for the people who love them, and those who understand that great loss can be a window through which we see how powerful, and unending, love can be.