Grieving Garden: Living with the Death of a Child Twenty-Two Parents Share Their Stories

A Portable Support Group for Parents Who Have Lost a Child

A variety of backgrounds and circumstances, along with a shared dedication to speak out on a notoriously unspeakable loss, make this brave volume cathartic and comforting; grieving parents may well find it invaluable. -Publisher’s Weekly (Starred Review)

Every year, some two million parents in the US suffer the death of a son or daughter. The unnatural sequence of the child’s preceding the parent in death creates a wrenching loss and overwhelming emotional and spiritual disorientation. Most of these bereaved parents find relief from their isolation only in the company of others like themselves. The Grieving Garden offers support, understanding, and, ultimately, comfort and hope from those who have sowed the same tears over the death of a child.

The Grieving Garden is a ground-breaking book that invites bereaved parents into personal conversations with a diverse group of fathers and mothers who share the same loss. The text is free of distracting and heavy-handed editorializing, expert opinion, or unwanted advice. Instead, readers are welcomed into a community of common understanding one they may enter at will, at their own pace, for reassurance and hope.