The Empty Chair: Handling Grief on Special Occasions

Whether you've lost a family member or friend, this book invites you to journey through grief toward life-giving healing. It offers pastoral and mental health insights to help you handle holidays and special occasions without your loved one.

Publisher Description

Losing a loved one???whether a spouse, parent, child, sibling, or friend???leaves people feeling overwhelmed and hopeless. Holidays and other special occasions seem to intensify the pain. Whether the occasion is Christmas or Easter, a birthday or anniversary, these celebrations force the bereaved to again face the reality of a loved one??'s absence. Susan Zonnebelt-Smeenge and Robert C. De Vries know firsthand the sorrow of bereavement: Both lost a spouse. Yet as they faced their pain and gleaned insights from their professions???Susan is a psychologist, Robert, a minister???they found renewed richness on special days that once brought heartache. In The Empty Chair, the authors share a comforting blend of emotional support, spiritual guidance, and personal experience to help readers honor their loved one on important days. Those who support the bereaved???mental-health professionals, pastors, funeral home staff, and others???will also appreciate this book for its reflective yet practi