How does a parent cope after the death of a child? Each essay in Always With Me: Parents Talk about the Death of a Child reveals the experiences of parents who have lived through the devastation and upheaval of their child’s death. Parents describe the maelstrom they face in their inner landscapes, coping strategies, and realigned place in the world. The writers in this collection of stories take on such topics as shock and isolation, despair, guilt, and how they attempt to make sense of their shattered lives. They offer insights into how their grief and loss are worked through, and why certain personal connections are severed, others strengthened. Importantly, they describe how, with lives altered indelibly, they try to press forward to find a new place in the world.
“The death of one’s child is possibly the harshest blow life can deliver. This extraordinary anthology offers diverse perspectives on how and why parents survive the pain of their child’s death. It is aimed at general readers, other survivors, and those who work with grieving families. The book is sad but not depressing. Read it in small doses to fully appreciate the depths of parental love, sorrow, remorse, and yearning represented here.” —Deborah Yaffe, Senior Instructor Emerita, University of Victoria
“This book is a gift to all of us. The collection of vignettes takes us into the centre of the heartbreaking and unimaginable pain that parents who have lost children live through as they try to make sense of a world where the natural order of things is gone. Raw, honest, and powerful, the stories cannot but make an impression on the reader. The book is instructive and filled with valuable lessons not only for those in the helping professions—social workers, nurses, physicians, teachers, therapists—but also for the general public that needs to get past its discomfort with all parents’ worst nightmare and learn how bettl³0
![Always With Me: Parents talk about the death of a child [Paperback]](/itemImage/2/1/0/5/2_6844706.jpg "Always With Me: Parents talk about the death of a child [Paperback]")