5 Books To Read When Dealing With Loss

Losing somebody very dear to us may be the most painful experience one can encounter in this life. If you lose a spouse, lover, a close friend, a family member or even your favorite pet can have a deep impact in your life that would strain you to the point of breaking. The difficulty is totally incomparable with anything there is and the pain would be so great you could almost feel it physically. This is a process that people have to go through and experts believe that there are stages to it and most of the time, it always ends up for the better so long as you do not give up. There is always a silver lining in the clouds. Here is a list of more funeral poems and funeral songs.

You may feel down and want to shut yourself out from the rest of the world because you’re angry at what happened. And this was after a period of not wanting to believe the news that struck you. Then you might have pleaded to some higher power about turning back time or changing your life just to set things right. This kind of thing happens to even atheists because, as they say, there are no atheists in foxholes. After this exhausting period, chances are you would just give up and not do anything about it – “everything is already miserable, what’s the point of having to do anything at all? What do I have to lose anyway?” But if you hang on for a little bit more and just go along with it, you would soon learn that time heals all wounds though not a direct cremation of the past.

So, while you’re going through this very difficult process, we’ve selected 5 books you may want to read so the burden would feel much lighter and thus, would make you reach your destination sooner.

A Grief Observed – C.S. Lewis

C.S Lewis, together with his close friend J.R.R. Tolkien, was a prominent writer in the early to the mid-20th century and was famous for writing The Chronicles of Narnia among other things. At one point he lost his wife and this really hit hard on him. While grieving, he wrote a collection of letters that showed his anger, confusion, his doubts with his religion and contemplations about life and death. Later, it was compiled to make a book that is now titled A Grief Observed. These letters were written in such raw power and honesty that they can resonate with anyone going through the pain of dealing with loss.

Looking for Alaska – John Greene

This follows the story of Miles Halter, a young man who got tired of his sheltered life at home. So, he left home and went to Culver Creek boarding school where he sought the meaning of what a dying poet called François Rabelais named as The Great Perhaps. Before he knew it, his life was entangled with a certain Alaska Young, a beautiful and mysterious young woman whom he fell in love with. With her cunning and self-destructive attitude, she hauls over Miles into a heart-wrenching journey into his own Great Perhaps. This book, which is included in TIME Magazine’s 100 Best Young Adult Novels of All Time, will hold your hand and heart in traversing through the path of accepting one’s loss.

Tuesdays With Morrie

Mitch Albom had the amazing and life-changing opportunity to sit down with his former college professor Morrie Schwartz in the last moment of his life. Their conversations lasted for a month and within that month where Mitch visited the old man every Tuesday, the latter gave him the greatest lessons that Mitch carried with him ever since as he received his one “final class” from the dying man. Mitch was once a person who sought power, money, and possessions and thought they were the things that mattered in life the most. However, Morrie has something to say about that. This short but best-selling book changed many lives and inspired more to see what really are life’s most important treasures.

A Widow’s Story – Joyce Carol Oates

This memoir relates the story of how Joyce lost her husband and the things she had to go through as a widow. She lost her husband 46 ago when she started writing the book. In it, she reveals the struggles of coping with losing somebody with immense vulnerability. The stunning realities of the aftermath of losing someone, particularly a spouse, are laid bare to us in great detail. A Widow’s Story is an enthralling confession about life’s greatest tragedy and how it impacts one’s life for better or for worse. It is absolutely impossible not to be moved by the sheer raw honesty Joyce Carol Oates shares with us in this memoir.

Bridge to Terabithia – Katherine Paterson

While being marketed as literature for children, Bridge to Terabithia has profound lessons to impart to adults when dealing with the loss of loved ones, especially their children. The story is about two children, Jesse Aarons, and Leslie Burke; friends who made a make-believe kingdom for themselves and named it Terabithia. One day, Leslie lost her life and this sent Jesse in a state of disbelief, rage, and confusion in which fantasy and reality almost lost their boundaries. This novel brings us a story of friendship, sacrifice, love, grief and ultimately, acceptance.