Introduction: Put Your Oxygen Mask on First
What's the Problem and Whose Problem Is It?
Obvious and Hidden Losses
Between the Problem and the Solution: Six Major Myths
Looking At Myth 1: Don't Feel Bad!
Without Sadness, Joy Cannot Exist
Who's Responsible for Feelings?
Looking at Myth 2: Replace the Loss, Part One
All Relationships are Unique
It's Time to Meet Leslie and Learn More about Cherished Possessions
Replace the Loss, Part Two
Looking at Myth 3: Grieve Alone
Multigenerational Pass-Through
Why Do People Grieve Alone?
Here's Some Good News: Different Beliefs Produce Better Results For Children
Pause to Reflect and Recap
Looking at Myth 4: Be Strong
Strong or Human, Pick One!
Looking at Myth 5: Keep Busy
The Real Impact of Loss: Keeping Busy and Dwelling on Pain
Dwelling on Pain Is Sometimes the Result of Not Being Heard
Looking at Myth 6: Time Heals All Wounds
Corporate Grief and Grief in the Classroom
Moving From Grief to Recovery
What Is Incomplete Grief?
Is Incomplete Grief Only about Bad Things?
It's Easier to Fill an Empty Cup
If Your Kids Are Older, Do Not Despair
Short-Term Energy-Relieving Behaviors (S.T.E.R.B.s)
Do You Know Where Your Child's Energy Is?
Short-Term Relief Doesn't Work
Relationship Reviews Happen Automatically
Pick the Fruit When It's Ripe
Out of the Mouths of Babes
All Grief Is Experienced at 100 percent
Helping Your Child Review the Relationship
Sleeping in the Bed, or Not
The Emotional Energy Checklist
Children and Their Pets: Reviewing Events and Emotions
Emotional Energy Checklist: Death of a Pet
What to Do with the Review
Converting Emotional Energy Into Recovery Components
Apologies to Living People
Apologies to People Who Have Died
Should Parents Ever Apologize?
Time Doesn't Create Completion: Actions Do
Recovery Components: Forgiveness
Forgiveness Is an Action, Not a Feeling
Recovery Components: Significant Emotional Statements
Are the Same Things Significant for Everyone?
Some Significant Comments Require Forgiveness
Reviewing Relationships with People Who Have Died
The Death of a Grandparent
Uniqueness Is the Real Issue
Emotional Energy Checklist: Grandparent, Relative, or Close Acquaintance
Before We Move On, We Honor the Readers
Moving from Discovery to Completion
Continuing Litany vs. Freedom
Carrying the Litany Is a Heavy Load
Exaggerated Memory Pictures
Delivering, Completing, and Saying Good-bye
Leading Up to Jessica's Letter
Jessica's Completion Letter to Thumper
Entirely Different but Exactly the Same
Grandparent, Relative, or Close Acquaintance
Chronicling Events that Occur After a Death
Amanda's Completion Letter to NaNa
What About Jeffrey's Sisters?
Focusing on Moving and Divorce
Leslie Gets the First Word
The Divorce of My Parents
Long Term or Sudden Impact
Relief Is Only the Last Feeling
Noble Sentiments, but Hearts Are Still Broken
Unique Is Still the Bottom Line
Children Sometimes Blame Themselves
Leslie Gets the Last Word, Too
Solid and Clear Reference Point
Sometimes the World Travels Backward
Talking About Death with Your Child
Curiosity Helps Children Learn
Euphemisms + Metaphors = Confusion
Four Weddings and a Funeral?
Forty-five Years Later, but Who's Counting
Chloe and Carrie Sue and the Real Meaning of Time
Spencer's Accidental Owners
The Grief Recovery Groupie