How do you move forward when your life is unexpectedly shattered by devastating news? You can sink into despair, or this temporary devastation can become a profound journey where the choices you make bring more meaning, purpose, and promise than you could ever have imagined. The Gift of Great Sorrow by Louise Braün Frank is the story of Louise's 25-year journey with her children Joshua and Leah who were diagnosed at the age of six with a progressive terminal disease which eventually claimed their young lives. As she walked through the grief of their daily losses, instead of becoming discouraged and overwhelmed, she chose to embody her father's advice, "Watch them live, don't watch them die." In The Gift of Great Sorrow, we experience a story that moves beyond tragedy to triumph -- not because the tragedy changes, but because of the transforming power of perspective, love, and courage.

"After more than 40 years in my television news career, I reported on hundreds of stories of bravery, survival, and sheer determination by families facing some of life's toughest challenges. Louise Frank's account of her and her children's journey is among the most inspiring and compelling stories I have ever known. Her words take the reader on a sometimes searing, often funny, and almost unbelievable trek through the birth and too-short lives of her two beloved children... Joshua and Leah. Yet somehow, because of the innate fortitude and grit of this truly amazing mother, we are left inspired at the end. This story needed to be told and by writing it, Louise has honored the memory and legacy of her children. They - and she - will never be forgotten." Julie Blacklow, Journalist and Author --- How do you move forward when your life is unexpectedly shattered by devastating news? You can sink into despair, or this temporary devastation can become a profound journey where the choices you make bring more meaning, purpose, and promise than you could ever have imagined. The Gift of Great Sorrow by Louise Braün Frank is the story of Louise's 25-year journey with her children Joshua and Leah who were diagnosed at the age of six with a progressive terminal disease which eventually claimed their young lives. As she walked through the grief of their daily losses, instead of becoming discouraged and overwhelmed, she chose to embody her father's advice, "Watch them live, don't watch them die." In The Gift of Great Sorrow, we experience a story that moves beyond tragedy to triumph -- not because the tragedy changes, but because of the transforming power of perspective, love, and courage. --- Louise Braun Frank was born in Ottawa, Canada. Raised in a military family with five brothers and sisters, Louise lived in many areas of Canada, in France and finally settled in the Seattle area. Louise's two children, Joshua and Leah were both diagnosed at a young age with Friedreich's Ataxia, a rare, progressive and debilitating terminal disease. Over the course of their short lives, they lost their abilities to walk, see and manage their personal care. But with the help of a determined and committed mother, the children outlived the doctor's predictions and survived into their twenties. In addition to helping her children live their best lives, Louise has built a successful direct sales business with The Pampered Chef and continues with that work today. An advocate for volunteerism, Louise gives her time to the Alaska Washington Make A Wish Foundation and local food banks. Over the years she has been invited as a guest speaker to share her experiences in the hope that others who have suffered trauma and loss of all types, will find a path thru pain to purpose. The Joy Thru Tears Foundation, a non-profit, was founded by Louise in December 2020 with the vision of facilitating workshops to help with healing. www.joythrutears.foundation Louise has also walked the Camino de Santiago in Spain on three different occasions, each time searching for a way to grow spiritually and move forward in her life. She plans to return again.

"After more than 40 years in my television news career, I reported on hundreds of stories of bravery, survival, and sheer determination by families facing some of life's toughest challenges. Louise Frank's account of her and her children's journey is among the most inspiring and compelling stories I have ever known. Her words take the reader on a sometimes searing, often funny, and almost unbelievable trek through the birth and too-short lives of her two beloved children... Joshua and Leah. Yet somehow, because of the innate fortitude and grit of this truly amazing mother, we are left inspired at the end. This story needed to be told and by writing it, Louise has honored the memory and legacy of her children. They - and she - will never be forgotten." Julie Blacklow, Journalist and Author --- How do you move forward when your life is unexpectedly shattered by devastating news? You can sink into despair, or this temporary devastation can become a profound journey where the choices you make bring more meaning, purpose, and promise than you could ever have imagined. The Gift of Great Sorrow by Louise Braün Frank is the story of Louise's 25-year journey with her children Joshua and Leah who were diagnosed at the age of six with a progressive terminal disease which eventually claimed their young lives. As she walked through the grief of their daily losses, instead of becoming discouraged and overwhelmed, she chose to embody her father's advice, "Watch them live, don't watch them die." In The Gift of Great Sorrow, we experience a story that moves beyond tragedy to triumph -- not because the tragedy changes, but because of the transforming power of perspective, love, and courage. --- Louise Braun Frank was born in Ottawa, Canada. Raised in a military family with five brothers and sisters, Louise lived in many areas of Canada, in France and finally settled in the Seattle area. Louise's two children, Joshua and Leah were both diagnosed at a young age with Friedreich's Ataxia, a rare, progressive and debilitating terminal disease. Over the course of their short lives, they lost their abilities to walk, see and manage their personal care. But with the help of a determined and committed mother, the children outlived the doctor's predictions and survived into their twenties. In addition to helping her children live their best lives, Louise has built a successful direct sales business with The Pampered Chef and continues with that work today. An advocate for volunteerism, Louise gives her time to the Alaska Washington Make A Wish Foundation and local food banks. Over the years she has been invited as a guest speaker to share her experiences in the hope that others who have suffered trauma and loss of all types, will find a path thru pain to purpose. The Joy Thru Tears Foundation, a non-profit, was founded by Louise in December 2020 with the vision of facilitating workshops to help with healing. www.joythrutears.foundation Louise has also walked the Camino de Santiago in Spain on three different occasions, each time searching for a way to grow spiritually and move forward in her life. She plans to return again.

Death, divorce, illness, disaster, personal loss, and financial disappointment. Crisis, tragedy, and suffering are among the most universal human experiences-and they can also be our most powerful catalysts for positive change. Rabbi Matthew D. Gewirtz offers a graceful, insightful, and inspiring education on the true meaning of grief: how it breaks and remakes us, bringing us closer to our strongest sense of self. Based on his extensive pastoral experience helping congregants grapple with grief, Gewirtz identifies the ways we block our experience of sorrow and loss and guides us to encounter these feelings fully, with compassion and clarity, and incorporate the lessons we learn into a richer life. A dynamic rabbi teaches a prescriptive and enlightening approach to grieving as a vehicle for positive transformation and renewal. Presents compassionate, profound, counterintuitive guidance for working through and transcending grief on a psychological and spiritual level. Nondenominational advice from a spiritual leader, rather than a psychologist.

When Jan Richardson unexpectedly lost her husband and creative partner, the singer/songwriter Garrison Doles, she did what she had long known how to do: she wrote blessings. These were no sugar-coated blessings. They minimized none of the pain and bewilderment that came in the wake of a wrenching death. With these blessings, Jan entered, instead, into the depths of the shock, anger, and sorrow. From those depths, she has brought forth words that, with heartbreaking honesty, offer surprising comfort and stunning grace. Those who know loss will find kinship among these pages. In these blessings that move through the anguish of rending into the unexpected shelters of solace and hope, there shimmers a light that helps us see we do not walk alone. From her own path of grief, Jan offers a luminous, unforgettable gift that invites us to know the tenacity of hope and to recognize the presence of love that, as she writes, is "sorrow's most lasting cure."

A therapist shares her memoir of survival after the death of her infant daughter and the process she developed to cope with her grief. How do you make sense of loss and tragedy? After the sudden and devastating loss of her infant daughter, Lily Dulan (a marriage and family therapist, psychotherapist, and certified yoga teacher) meditated, prayed, and ruminated on the only thing she had left—her baby girl’s name. In Lily’s courage to address and move through her pain, she developed a combination of proven psychological modalities, twelve-step wellness tools, spiritual healing applications, meditations, and ancient yoga. She calls this self-help process “The Name Work”. In her heartfelt memoir, Lily shares her healing journey and her method for unleashing the power in names and giving them special meaning to help move through the grief process in a thoughtful and transformative way. The Name Work method teaches you how to assign special meaning and qualities to the letters in names—a deceased loved one’s or your own—and how to create positive affirmations for each letter’s attribute. It is a tangible and personal self-healing method for whatever obstacles arise; a unique, new wellness tool for healing and self-discovery. Also includes: Affirmations, self-guided questions, meditations, and practices An A-Z dictionary of qualities to help create your own affirmations Life hacks for addictive behaviors and moving though trauma and loss A first-hand account of the author’s personal healing journey Praise for Giving Grief Meaning “Such a wise, gentle book, born of great loss, on healing, grief and transformation.” —Anne Lamott, New York Times–bestselling author of Dusk, Night, Dawn “Lily Dulan had to bear the unbearable, a loss that is every parent’s nightmare. This book relays her journey from the valley of excruciating pain to a peaceful life on the other side of it. She began the journey not knowing if peace would ever be hers again. She was rewarded for each step she took in trying to find it, discovering keys that indeed unlocked the way for her and which now she can share with others. For those still in earlier phases of grief, this book illuminates some mysterious ways a broken heart can heal.” —Marianne Williamson, #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Return to Love

The work of the mature person is to carry grief in one hand and gratitude in the other and be stretched large by them. As seen on All There Is with Anderson Cooper Noted psychotherapist Francis Weller provides an essential guide for navigating the deep waters of sorrow and loss in this lyrical yet practical handbook for mastering the art of grieving. Describing how Western patterns of amnesia and anesthesia affect our capacity to cope with personal and collective sorrows, Weller reveals the new vitality we may encounter when we welcome, rather than fear, the pain of loss. Through moving personal stories, poetry, and insightful reflections he leads us into the central energy of sorrow, and to the profound healing and heightened communion with each other and our planet that reside alongside it. The Wild Edge of Sorrow explains that grief has always been communal and illustrates how we need the healing touch of others, an atmosphere of compassion, and the comfort of ritual in order to fully metabolize our grief. Weller describes how we often hide our pain from the world, wrapping it in a secret mantle of shame. This causes sorrow to linger unexpressed in our bodies, weighing us down and pulling us into the territory of depression and death. We have come to fear grief and feel too alone to face an encounter with the powerful energies of sorrow. Those who work with people in grief, who have experienced the loss of a loved one, who mourn the ongoing destruction of our planet, or who suffer the accumulated traumas of a lifetime will appreciate the discussion of obstacles to successful grief work such as privatized pain, lack of communal rituals, a pervasive feeling of fear, and a culturally restrictive range of emotion. Weller highlights the intimate bond between grief and gratitude, sorrow and intimacy. In addition to showing us that the greatest gifts are often hidden in the things we avoid, he offers powerful tools and rituals and a list of resources to help us transform grief into a force that allows us to live and love more fully.