Wednesday, June 15, 2005
Smiling Through Your Tears: Anticipating Grief
Smiling Through Your Tears wouldn't have a happy sunflower on the cover were it not for my daughter, Helen and her twin children. Finding a photo for a book about early grief was a challenge, to say the least. A photo of a smiling or crying person was too obvious for me. What could I do? I purchased a sunflower from a garden shop and called my daughter. "Would you photograph a sunflower for me?" I asked.
"I'd be glad to," she replied, and promised to bring her digital camera along when she and the twins came for dinner. The sun was just starting to go down when we went out on the deck to take photos. The twins took turns holding the sunflower against various backgrounds, but the backgrounds were busy and the light wasn't right, so they moved to the front of the house.
I asked Helen to photograph the sunflower against the blue sky. My grandson lay on the sidewalk and held the sunflower, which was as big as a dinner plate, over his head. To get the right camera angla my daughter stretched out on her tummy beside him. Our house is on a corner and driver after driver slowed down to stare at the sight - a prostrate boy with a sunflower over his head, a determined mother with a camera, and a young girl dancing around.
What a sight!
Harriet
"I'd be glad to," she replied, and promised to bring her digital camera along when she and the twins came for dinner. The sun was just starting to go down when we went out on the deck to take photos. The twins took turns holding the sunflower against various backgrounds, but the backgrounds were busy and the light wasn't right, so they moved to the front of the house.
I asked Helen to photograph the sunflower against the blue sky. My grandson lay on the sidewalk and held the sunflower, which was as big as a dinner plate, over his head. To get the right camera angla my daughter stretched out on her tummy beside him. Our house is on a corner and driver after driver slowed down to stare at the sight - a prostrate boy with a sunflower over his head, a determined mother with a camera, and a young girl dancing around.
What a sight!
Harriet
Health Issues
All of my books come from life experience. Smiling Through Your Tears, my latest book, focuses on anticipatory grief - a feeling of loss before a death or dreaded event occurs. You don't get up on the morning with the idea of writing a book about grief, believe me! But the idea for this self-help came to me when I was my mother's caregiver, something I did for nine years.
During these years I wrote a book outline and most of the chapters for the book. After my mother died, however, I could see my grief journey more clearly, and what a journey it was for me. Much of that journey is detailed in Smiling Through Your Tears and if you've read it I would love to hear from you. Nobody is immune from grief and if you have grief stories to share I would like to hear them, too.
Harriet
During these years I wrote a book outline and most of the chapters for the book. After my mother died, however, I could see my grief journey more clearly, and what a journey it was for me. Much of that journey is detailed in Smiling Through Your Tears and if you've read it I would love to hear from you. Nobody is immune from grief and if you have grief stories to share I would like to hear them, too.
Harriet
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