What do you call parents who lose children? . . . there is no word in our language for our situation. It is unspeakable, and by extension, we are not supposed to exist.
A memoir of mourning may not sound uplifting, especially when the subject is the two-year-old victim of a freak accident, but Jayson Greene’s testament to love and hope, as he calls it, is just that. In their uncensored and atheistic (though far from a-spiritual) grapple with grief, Greene and wife Stacy pass through the five stages to emerge intact and able to welcome a new child into their lives. To do otherwise, he says, would be like arguing with the snow.
Nuanced writing and vivid recollections of their daughter Greta combine with a dawning appreciation for her unseen spirit, which accompanies them into the next chapter of their lives. A 2019 best-seller, at 243 pages or seven hours beautifully narrated by the author, this is a story anyone with a pulse will cherish, a sort of Death Be Not Proud for the modern age with a classic title from Dante’s Inferno. For as Greene observes in his darkest times, it is in experiencing the world’s most universal emotions that we feel most alone.
For a summary of the book and further thoughts on dealing with Grieving with Love and Hope, watch this interview with Kristina Kuzmic.