“The word he came up with was solastalgia, a portmanteau word of the Latin solus, which means ‘abandonment and loneliness,’ and nostalgia.”
grief
Posted inEditor's Pick
Why I Wanted to Finish My Father’s Life’s Work
In this personal essay, Karen Brown recalls the pain and joy of fulfilling a deathbed promise.
Posted inEssays & Criticism, Feature, Nonfiction, Story
Why I Wanted To Finish My Father’s Life’s Work
Karen Brown recalls the pain and joy of fulfilling a deathbed promise.
Posted inNonfiction
California Burning
A year after the Camp Fire, Tessa Love contemplates home, California’s undoing, and what it means to belong.
Posted inNonfiction
A Woman’s Work: Till Death Do Us Part
Carolita Johnson considers the emotional and physical labor required of women as their loved ones die.
Posted inEssays & Criticism, Highlight, Quotes
Life After Pain
One day, Ge Gao’s right hand stopped working. Then the pain started, and it’s never stopped.
Posted inEssays & Criticism, Nonfiction, Story
Old Dudes On Skateboards
The death of his life-long skateboarding friend prompts Aaron Gilbreath to get back on his board — at 44, with his toddler daughter in tow.
Posted inCommentary, Culture, Essays & Criticism, Nonfiction, Story, Writing
‘A World Where Mothers Are Seen’
Vanessa Mártir introduces Writing the Mother Wound, a series of essays on mothering presented in collaboration with Writing our Lives and Longreads.
Posted inReading List
I Will Outlive My Cat: A Reading List on Pet Death
Alison Fishburn shares seven longreads on how humans experience the death of their pets.
Posted inEssays & Criticism, Feature, Nonfiction, Story
How to Predict the Unpredictable
After the death of her dog, Katie Gutierrez grapples with the ripple effects of her decisions — and how to live with uncertainty as a mother.