The authors* in Living with Grief: 36 Lessons from Life share with us their experiences of profound grief. They do not offer comfortable platitudes; they do not recommend simplistic methods of cleaning the mind of sorrow or the heart of pain. Instead, they chronicle their own ongoing struggles with grief. They tell us that they have learned, above all, not to try to banish grief, but to live with it and learn from it. They tell us that grief is real. And they tell us that our lives can still be meaningful, even though we have suffered the deepest loss.
The anthology is one example of a bereavement sanctuary. In this literary environment, the authors explore grief on their own terms. Readers may do the same. Here, you may immerse yourself in a variety of grieving experiences, as well as comforting and nurturing ones, and emerge intact, with an enhanced ability to consider life and death.
You will learn from this book that it is possible to live with grief, should you care to do so. Inspiration exists here in case you ever require it to make your own journeys of discovery into grief and mourning.
*Additional Authors: Stacey Bailey, Annie Frogley, Polly Giantonio, Dale Hird, Daniel Levine, Cheryl Olczak, Nancy Peet, Judy Pierce, Victor Robinson, Hazel Rose, Jan Warner. Cover Paintings: Friends Along the Road and Spirit Rising by Wendy Zeigler
About the Author: David Pierce co-founded Friends Along the Road with his wife Judy after the death of Lilli, their only child and best friend.
In 2002, David and Judy embraced the philosophy of Sanctuary and Caring Support. Finding that there are many misconceptions about death and grief, they came to understand that grief is an entirely personal experience, and that no one should suggest how another ought to experience it. However, the Pierces were encouraged by wonderful professional counseling organizations and healing networks that adhere to the ideas of safety, comfort, and unconditional positive regard. Especially important to David's thinking was Ernest Becker's Denial of Death and the Theory of Caring as conceived by Kristen M. Swanson, Ph.D., R.N. Although Dr. Swanson's ideas are directed toward nursing and clinical practice, David found them an excellent model for FAR's work of creating sanctuary. David realized that sometimes, the best thing one can do for a person in grief is to offer safe and comfortable places. Friends Along the Road makes such places available, recommends similar places created by others, and teaches the art of Sanctuary Anywhere for those in grief.
David and Judy are currently living in Pueblo, Colorado.
David has written two books, Looking for Lilli: Living With the Death of Our Only Child and A Father's Astral Diary: Looking for Lilli in the Otherworld. He has also written the foreword to Looking Beyond the Fishbowl: A New Comforting Perspective on Reincarnation (Between Heaven and Earth Book 2), by Giulia Jeary Knap; 1st edition (December 28, 2017).
David enjoys writing flash fiction, hiking, gardening, treasure-hunting, body-surfing, and dreaming. He is the administrator of two dreaming forums on the Internet. It is his hope to someday write children's books and other fiction.
