I Didn’t Know What to Say: Being a Better Friend to Those Who Experience Loss

Being A Better Friend to Those Experiencing Loss. Knapp draws on his own experience of losing both his first and second wife to cancer to provide insight into some of the unhelpful responses we often make, and presents a repertoire of ideas on how to be a genuine friend and helper to a grieving person.Various chapters in the book deal with different kinds of losses, including the trauma of losing a spouse or child, divorce, loss of pets, and other losses that we sometimes fail to recognize need to be grieved over if healing is to occur. A veteran teacher, Knapp supplements his chapters with practical lists of responses that may be helpful at different points in the grieving process. His book is a wonderful tool for preparing ourselves for the inevitable human experience of dealing with others’ grief, or our own.A student of life and processes, David Knapp leans into the situation at hand. Whether raising four children, or blending a family with eight teenagers, running a small business or teaching fresh-faced college students, he knows how to communicate effectively. He does not write from theory, but from experience and study.