After Your Loved One Dies: Finding Hope and Strength to Carry On

"AFTER YOUR LOVED ONE DIES: Finding Hope and Strength to Carry On" is a book based on the experiences of bereavement and the grief that follows the death of a loved one, and how different bereaved people are affected by such a loss. It lays bare the hidden and deep-seated experiences that only the bereaved experiences, which need to be brought to the fore for all to understand. This is because although it is assumed that we know what a bereaved person actually goes through after the death of a loved one (shock and sadness), this is just the tip of the iceberg. Loss of a loved one does, in fact, entail an out-of-view and deep-seated suffering - a suffering capable of creating startling reactions and peculiar changes and experiences in the bereaved. But there is always hope to find light at the end of the tunnel. The book incorporates not only the author's own experiences but also those of other bereaved people whom she sought out after the death of her husband and best friend of 19 years. It is hoped that the book will be of help not only to the newly bereaved but also to those who have been bereaved for a longer time, but who may still be struggling to make sense of their loss, because of the lingering nature of grief. It is divided into five parts, each covering a specific aspect of these experiences and phases, and addresses, inter alia, the following aspects: 1) Adjusting to the trauma of the loss, and to an environment in which your loved one is no longer present. 2) Some coping tips on how to find hope and strength to carry on. 3) Cultural sensitivity and the role that culture plays in bereavement and grief. 4) The valuable lessons of bereavement that one learns on this painfuljourney of grief, lessons that can be imparted to others - to the bereaved, to those around the bereaved, and to others, because loss and grief can happen to any one at some point in their life - a kind of 'forewarned is fore-armed' sort of awareness. 5) How bereaved people can (after finding hope and strength to carry on) help other bereaved people as they transit through their grief so that they, too, can emerge unbroken by it.