Tear Soup

After enduring a sudden and devastating loss recently, a friend of mine lent me the book, Tear Soup: A Recipe for Healing After Loss by Pat Schwiebert and Chuck DeKlyen.

One of the authors is a Registered Nurse with years of experience in Hospice.

It is actually a children's book, complete with detailed illustrations, but beneficial to all ages.

As I turned each page I found myself thinking: Yes, that's exactly how I feel! (With the exception of being angry at God... I plan on tearing that page when I purchase my own copy.) This short, sweet, little book put into words everything that was going on inside of me but that I hadn't been able to express.

Afterwards I felt validated and "normal" which gave me hope that if others have survived such losses, I suppose I can too.

At the end there are tips for those who are grieving and those who's loved ones are grieving. This is my favorite part. Never having suffered a major loss prior to this, I now wish I had read these tips years ago so that I would have known what to do when my loved ones were grieving.