• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Janice Beetle Books

Writing, editing, book development, and publishing help

  • Home
  • About
    • My Books
    • Clients’ Books
    • Privacy Policy
  • Services
    • Creative Writing Review/Coaching
    • Book Development /Writing
      • Book Development Sampler
    • Book Editing
    • Copy Editing
    • Book Design
    • Publishing Guidance
  • Blog
  • Poem Pods
  • Shop
  • Contact
  • Order My Book
You are here: Home / All / Another Perspective

Another Perspective

November 3, 2012 by Janice Beetle Leave a Comment

Joanne E. Sullivan of West Springfield knows grief.

She is a facilitator of grief groups in the region through her work with Fostastiere Funeral Homes, and her husband and the father of her three sons died in a car accident in December 1977. Nineteen years later, in September 1996, her 21-year-old son Matthew Scott Sullivan also died suddenly.

Joanne certainly knows grief, and in her book, The Reality of Loss, she offers the story of losing her son as well as tips on managing grief.

Joanne doesn’t pretend to be a writer, but her experience and her knowledge about grief comes through so clearly and completely in her book. I wept as I read about her hearing the news of her son’s death from a police officer over the telephone.

I could relate to the surreal quality of a subsequent conversation between Joanne and her best friend Pat as they both repeated “Matthew is dead” over and over, sometimes as a question, sometimes as a statement, as they both tried to process the news as it was received.

I wanted to protect her surviving sons from the news as she called to tell them their brother was gone.

Joanne’s book is validating for anyone experiencing a grief of any kind. As she says, “Whoever you are grieving, whatever your loss, when you close the door to your home, your grief is the worst grief. Your pain is the worst pain, and you have to go through the process of grieving it.”

Joanne offers ideas on handling holidays as well as answers to questions like “How do I know if I am grieving the right way?” She also offers suggestions on what not to say to someone who is grieving and thoughts on what is appropriate to say.

I am still a sponge for any material on grief, and I was grateful not only to have Joanne’s book but to have met her. She is a kind, compassionate person. I like that she knows that grief is something a person will always carry.

As Joanne says on her book’s jacket, “We have to learn how to restructure our lives rather than retreat from life. This does not happen in six months or a year, it happens over a life time. It is a long continuum of joy and hardship.”

For me, as of March 14, a year and a half has gone by since Ed died, but there is not a moment when I don’t think about him. There is not a day that goes by that I don’t tear up at least once. I am on the long continuum.

I particularly like Joanne’s question to readers: “What attributes from our loved one will we now make a part of us?”

For me, it is patience. I am trying to take on Ed’s patience so as not to rush my grief or my life in any way. I am trying to live in each moment and to slow down and be thorough, as he was.

I knew the answer to the question many months ago, but I loved that Joanne posed it. Somehow, it makes my experience, my answer, that much more real.

To purchase Joanne’s book, visit www.grief-therealityofloss.com.

← Previous Post
Next Post →

Filed Under: All, Grieving, Local writers

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Subscribe

Please enter your email address to receive blog posts by email.

Categories

Recent Posts

  • Larceny in the Aisles is Hot Off the Press!
  • Ten Tips for the Travel Writer-Wannabe
  • Thrilled to Meet My Client From London

Archives

  • October 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • October 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • September 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • November 2012

Footer

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

© 2023 Janice Beetle Books · Privacy Policy
Content by Janice Beetle Books · Site by Turn Signal Media