Letters To Lost Loved Ones

By Jacqueline Whitney From Jacqueline Whitney — poet, autho

 "Letters to Lost Loved Ones" is the journal companion to her latest book: where "If You're Grieving" offers words when you have none, this journal offers pages for when you find them. Grief doesn't follow a schedule. It arrives at a graduation, a wedding, a Tuesday afternoon. It arrives the moment you reach for your phone to call someone who won't pick up. It arrives when you come home and the person who made it feel like home isn't there anymore. This journal was made for those moments — not to process them toward resolution, but to give them somewhere to go. In these pages, connect to your lost loved one through writing. When you wish you could hear their voice. When the only person you want to give you advice isn't here. When you're at home but you have never felt more homesick. When the most exciting moment of your life happens. Write to them. The letter format is the point.

A generic grief journal asks you to record your feelings. Letters to Lost Loved Ones asks you to write to a specific person — to tell them what happened today, what you're thinking, what you wish you'd said, what you're proud of, what you're afraid of, what you're grateful for. The relationship continues on the page. The conversation doesn't have to be over just because they are.