Day 6 - Books

Day 6 – BOOKS So many of us turn to reading in the wake of the death of our children. We take solace in other people’s words, stories, journeys and wisdom. Have you read any books that have helped in this journey of healing after loss? They don’t have to be specifically about the death of a child, just anything that helped you. Share about how they helped you and what you loved about them. You can share books that help grieving children too. Please feel welcome to share links.

I've always liked to read. It always hasn't been something I was able to do with the rigorous schooling I went through and then children followed right after. After Corbyn passed I had several people give me books to read. I found it was a way for them to help without saying anything. That was good because I could then decide privately if the "advice" they had given me was what I needed. I started book after book. None of them seemed to help me with what I needed. One person gave me a book that a mother wrote about her miscarriages. I wanted to set the book on fire and throw it out the window after reading the first chapter. It just wasn't the help I was looking for and it just made me angry. Other books were about people overcoming trials and one was fictional, but seemed very real. After I found out it was all fabricated it made me want to shred it. I decided I would crack open one more book from the stack I received and if that was a fail I was done trying.  It was this one: 

I loved it! It was just what I needed. I connected with it so much and felt like I was the one that wrote my feelings down and was reading them.  I'm sure from my previous posts you realized I am religious. This book helped me when I was angry with God. It helped me reestablish my faith. Most of all it brought about my idea for the Corby baskets that I now give parents that have lost a child. There was so much that this book did for me. It helped me understand my grief a little better and know that what I was feeling was ok. She lost a son, in a very different way, but I felt like I could relate. From the suddenness of her loss to the ER experience. After I finished that book I decided to try my luck again and failed miserably so I gave up altogether. I'm grateful for the book I was able to find. That whole time was a blur for me so I honestly can't remember where they all came from. What I learned from it all was that each grief journey is different and what may work for one won't work for another. I'm grateful for each person that sought out to find that perfect book for me. I know they were showing their love and wanting to help the best they knew how. Maybe one day I'll come across another book that speaks to my soul. Who knows, maybe I'll write my own...