The Pain of Loss, Through Centuries and Books By Michelle Weber Highlight “My father is dead, I said to myself, my father is dead. Again and again I said it, and still I failed to grasp what it meant.”
What Falls to Earth By Susanna Space Feature Grieving the mysterious death of her father, Susanna Space seeks refuge in the study of meteors.
Blackstars By Michael Gonzales Feature Michael Gonzales reflects on the deaths of a dear friend, and a bookworm he idolized: David Bowie.
Partners in Crime: The Life, Loves & Nuyorican Noir of Jerry Rodriguez By Michael Gonzales Feature Michael Gonzales remembers a real friendship and the makings of a brutal crime novel.
The Strongest Woman in the Room By Kitty Sheehan Feature A daughter recounts her family’s worst day, through her mother’s eyes.
Disney World: A Surprisingly Good Place to Grieve By Krista Stevens Highlight “To my surprise, Disney World was not a difficult place to be while in mourning. To me it didn’t feel like an escape from grief, so much as a continued break from unendurable real life.”
Giving Up the Ghost By Emily Urquhart Feature After his death, Emily Urquhart ‘sees’ her brother with regularity. Nearly 20 years later, stories and science help to explain why.
Ancestor Work In Street Basketball By Onaje X. O. Woodbine Feature The basketball court is a place where young black men feel comfortable mourning death, but are there crucial elements missing from their grieving practices?
A Woman’s Work: Home Economics* (*I Took Woodworking Instead) By Carolita Johnson Feature Carolita Johnson tallies the costs and benefits of love and cohabitation as a woman artist living in a patriarchy.
When the Answers Wash Out with the Tide By Michelle Weber Highlight Police eventually figured out who killed Jaimee Mendez, but not how or why.
The Painful Resilience of Hope By Michelle Weber Highlight How do you bring yourself to plan for a baby after three miscarriages in a row?
A Remarkable Child By Daniel Rafinejad Feature My friend Sam went back to Brooklyn and his gang of peculiar white buddies watching their endless Stanley Kubrick film festival. I shall not see him again.
Of Breakdowns and Breakthroughs By Jenny Aurthur Feature After suicides and heartbreak ravage her family, Jenny Aurthur finds she has no choice but be transformed.
The Stories We Don’t Tell By Michelle Weber Highlight How many not-quite-parents are bearing the pain of miscarriage silently and alone?
Death Rattle: The Body’s Betrayals By Ellen Wayland-Smith Feature Since my father’s death, I dream about descents and falls. How, without warning, gravity has you in its grip.
Emotional Preparedness for a Dying Planet By Aaron Gilbreath Highlight How do we deal emotionally with the many deaths of climate change?
How to Write a Memoir While Grieving By Nicole Chung Feature Nicole Chung contemplates loss, adoption, and working on a book her late father won’t get to see.
Grief is a Jumble Word By Ken Otterbourg Feature Ken Otterbourg contemplates love and loss and what we remember when we try to forget.
Fast or Slow: What’s the Best Way to Die? By Sari Botton Highlight Sometimes death takes a torturously slow, scenic route.
My Daughter Died, But I’m Still Mothering Her By Jacqueline Dooley Feature Jacqueline Dooley recalls her difficult transition from being a mother with earthly duties, to becoming one with more spiritual concerns for a teenage daughter with terminal cancer.
This is How You Say Goodbye By Lillian Ann Slugocki Feature After a series of losses, Lillian Slugocki tries to make sense of death — and life in the wake of others’ passing.
The Soundtrack to Healing on the Road to Recovery By Krista Stevens Highlight How a family of five learned how to be a family of four.
How We Got There from Here By Anna Armstrong Feature Anna Armstrong recalls a road trip to escape her grief-stricken home — dragging her 13-year-old brother to see R.E.M.
Finally Seeing the Forest for the Trees By Maura Kelly Feature After a spate of trauma and loss, Maura Kelly retreats to the Hudson Valley where she is converted into a ‘nature person.’
Living in the Aftershock of Someone Else’s Earthquake By Ashley Abramson Feature A decade after her mother’s death, Ashley Abramson reflects on being raised by a parent addicted to opioids.
When Life Imitates Country Music By Michelle Weber Highlight “The trills in his notes sputter and lift. He sounds like an animal in trouble. Like a lounge singer who’s lost his mind.”
The Teenage Dreamland of ‘Twin Peaks’ By A. N. Devers Feature Discovering the show when she was a teenager in 1990 helped A.N. Devers navigate the grief of losing her grandparents—and her girlhood.
Moved by Kim By Seth Davis Branitz Feature Seth Davis Branitz had an awful suspicion he’d feel relieved when, some day, his very troubled brother would pass. He had no idea about the other ends it would rapidly bring with it.
