Introduction

“Let me know if there is anything I can do.” This well-meaning offer is frequently expressed when a relative or friend suffers a death or other heart-wrenching loss such as divorce, termination of a job, having to put a parent in a nursing home or Alzheimer’s facility, loss of one’s home, or the “empty nest” syndrome.

This book moves beyond that offer and other platitudes and gives practical steps to take to help alleviate the pain of loss—the heartbreak from a variety of shattering experiences.

These steps are drawn straight from real-life experiences; the stories of people demonstrate how one or more of these seven steps helped them turn grief of futility and despair into understanding, faith, and hope.