Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 There is one exception to my dislike of euphemisms for dying: the phrase I lost my father. I have always found it difficult to talk about my father’s death, but the phrase I lost my father feels plain and lonely, like grief itself. #2 The experience of loss is different for everyone. It can be the loss of a loved one, a childhood toy, a beloved cat who went outside one day and never returned, the letter your grandmother wrote you when you graduated from college, a threadbare but perfect blue plaid shirt, and a journal you kept for the better part of five years. #3 The loss of a loved one can be extremely difficult to deal with, and it can affect us in many different ways. It can be difficult to see the world as it really is, marked by the evidence of past losses and the imminence of future ones. #4 I came from a family that loved language and stories. I had a vivid memory of my father materializing in the doorway of the room I was playing in, holding a Norton anthology of poetry and waving his hand like Merlin while reciting Kubla Khan.