From Loss To Healing: Personal Tales About The First Year Of Bereavement

By Marissa Kristal

In 2007, Marissa Kristal lost her father unexpectedly. The pain was excruciating and she didn't know how she'd recover. Kristal took her pen to paper and began to journal her journey from devastating loss to regained hope and healing. If you've lost someone you love, this book is for you. It is Kristal's hope that her personal process of mourning and coping may help you navigate your own.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Marissa Kristal
• Release date: Dec 20, 2010
• ISBN: 9781452495194

Marissa Kristal

Marissa Kristal has written for various print and online publications such as Time Out New York, Psychology Today, FOXnews.com and RunnersWorld.com to name a few. The genres she's covered range from health and wellness, to beauty and fashion, to dating and relationships, and the arts. Marissa served as the New York Editor of online arts and culture magazine, Boheme Verite, as well as the advice columnist at Fazed.com – a website geared towards teens and 20-somethings. But, as a self-proclaimed Chronicler of Life, Marissa's specialty—and passion—lies in nonfiction and memoir writing. Check out Marissa's mini memoir "What Doesn't Kill You" here: http://www.amazon.com/What-Doesnt-Kill-You-Suffering/dp/1453748490

Book preview

Prologue

I didn’t always have the closest or most peaceful relationship with my father. When I was younger, we used to really get on one another’s nerves. I blame it on a few different things. First, there was our massive age gap. When I was born, my dad was already 48-years-old. Though today it’s much more common for older men and women to have children, back when I was born in 1979, I felt like I was the only kid in the world who had a dad people constantly assumed was my grandpa.

I was angry with him that he was older. It wasn’t his fault, of course, but I took it out on him. The years between us made it impossible for us to see eye-to-eye on anything. We didn’t understand each other’s tastes in clothing, hairstyles, music or hobbies. And though I didn’t realize it until very recently, I believe another reason for our bickering was because of my crippling fear of losing him. I was well aware that he was older, and he also had a heart condition. I knew the odds of having him in my life when I was an adult were slim, and I figured, if I didn’t love him too much, then it might not hurt so much when I eventually lost him.

Eventually we connected, but the transformation of our relationship didn’t happen until I was well into my college years. My best friend finally made me realize that my dad was never going to change and I could either accept that and love him, or miss out on having a relationship with him altogether. I certainly didn’t want that.

From then on, the minute I began allowing it, we built a bond that was incredibly deep and rich; we truly got to know one another, and became as close as any father and daughter could be. We went on numerous road trips where he advised me on everything from my love life, to the importance of treating others with respect. He shared with me his own life stories about his days in the navy, working in his father’s butcher shop, and living in a one-room apartment in St. Paul, Minnesota with his parents, brother and cousin. We shared a room every summer on our annual family weekend getaway up in Northern Minnesota. And, and in 2005 we traveled Europe together – a first for both of