Surviving the Holidays Without You: Navigating Grief During Special Seasons

By Gary Roe

Hospice chaplain Gary Roe has given you a grief survival kit designed for the holidays. Speaking from both personal and professional grief experiences, he will empower you to navigate special seasons with new confidence.

Holidays are difficult, especially when you're grieving the loss of someone you love. You find yourself faced with a host of challenges. You wonder how to:
•deal with unspoken yet powerful expectations, your own and others'
•handle continual memories and reminders of your loved one
•face feeling misunderstood, lonely, and isolated
•process unpredictable emotions and feeling vulnerable
•take yourself and your own heart seriously
•make good choices -what to do, how, and with whom

Finding your way to grieve well over the holidays can be overwhelming without a trusted guide. Gary knows your pain and will walk beside you, offering effective tools to help you face the holidays with hope rather than apprehension.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Gary Roe
• Release date: Nov 24, 2013
• ISBN: 9781624801006

Gary Roe

Kevin Carey, founder of thegriefguide.org and Diamond Grief Groups, is a grief management specialist and hospice chaplain who has been a trusted voice in grief recovery with a message of hope and healing to wounded hearts for the past three decades. In addition to being a former mental health therapist and minister, Kevin brings a pastoral approach to bereaved individuals through the difficult seasons of life.

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Surviving the Holidays Without You:

Navigating Grief During Special Seasons

Gary Roe

Surviving the Holidays Without You: Navigating Grief During Special Seasons

Copyright © 2013 by Gary Roe. All rights reserved.

First Smashwords Edition: 2013

ISBN (epub): 978-1-62480-100-6

Cover and Formatting: Streetlight Graphics

This eBook is licensed for the personal enjoyment of the original purchaser only. This eBook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this eBook and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Published by:

GR Healing Resources, PO Box 6621, Bryan, TX 77805-6621

Introduction

It hurts so much. I don’t know how to do this.

Sally, who lost her husband

I turn around and still expect to see her. I can’t believe she’s gone.

Bill, who lost his wife

I feel lost. It’s like I don’t know who I am now. I can’t even stand looking at family photos.

Jennifer, who lost her daughter

L

osing a loved one is

painful. Life will never be the same. How could it be?

And if this wasn’t hard enough, the holidays are bearing down upon you. What in the world are you supposed to do?

You need a grief survival kit designed for the holidays. That’s why I wrote this book.

As a hospice chaplain, I’ve had the honor of walking with thousands of hurting people through deep, dark valleys of grief. I’ve listened to and observed them on this rocky and emotionally power-packed journey. From my personal grief experiences and theirs, I’ve gathered some tools that can help you not only survive the holidays, but heal and grow through them.

Here are some grief truths and tools that will give you a quick road map of where we’re going:

•  Holidays are hard. Period.

•  This year’s holidays will be different, but they can still be good.

•  Alone time is good. Isolation is dangerous.

•  For the holidays to go well, you must take your heart seriously.

•  You get to choose what you do, when, and with whom.

•  You’ll need compassionate and safe companions for this journey.

•  You’re not leaving your loved one behind, but moving on with them in a new way.

•  Don’t let the holidays use you. Use the holidays to grieve well and love others.

I believe in you. You can do it.

Take a deep breath. Here we go.

I work as a hospice chaplain and bereavement specialist. I am not a Licensed Professional Counselor and none of my content is meant to diagnose or treat any disease or disorder.

Chapter One:

Why Holidays Are Hard

"What in the world am I going to