Reviewer Michelle Kaye Malsbury:
Michelle was born in Champaign, IL. Currently, she resides in Asheville, NC
and is in her second year of doctoral studies at Nova Southeastern
University in Ft. Lauderdale with specialization/concentration in
conflict resolution and peace studies. She has over six hundred
articles published on the web and one book published thus far with
many more in the wings. Hobbies include; reading, writing, music, and
playing with her Australian Cattle Dog, Abu.
Author:Debbie Augenthaler
Author:Debbie Augenthaler
If you live you will eventually experience grief. Anyone who has experienced grief knows that it can be overwhelming. Grief does not always stem from death, there are numerous other losses that can leave us grief-stricken. Some people can walk through this dark dilemma and come out on the other side ok. Others really struggle and require the help of a professional.
In the opening chapter of this book Debbie Augenthaler speaks about the sudden loss of her husband and her difficult time trying to come to terms with this loss and how to proceed living the rest of her life. She was a young woman who now found herself a widow. They both had careers that were on an upward spin. They had a new home that they both loved.
Debbie’s husband died from an aneurysm and it was fast. There was no time to get comfortable with him being out of her life. Blam, in a fleeting few minutes she went from happily married to mourning widow. He had been feeling odd the evening prior to this sad scenario and she pled with him to go to the emergency room to seek the counsel of a doctor. He did not. As such she replayed the what if game over and over. All of us do. It is perfectly normal given those set of circumstances. The doctors told her that there was nothing anyone could have done to prevent his death. She was still ridden with guilt.
Over time she sought counseling to help her deal with the pent-up emotions of this devastating loss and to help her move on with her life as a widow. It is from this loss that she decides there is a place for her grief to help others heal. The greatest gift the death of her husband gave her was the strength to help other people come to terms with their losses.
I enjoyed this book immensely and would suggest it as a must read for anyone who has suffered any type of loss. There is wonderful examples of the various stages of grief and how we do not all proceed through them the same way. And that is ok. Losses are personal and there is no one standardized approach toward healing. Let Debbie Augenthaler help you find you way back to being whole.