Customer Reviews

Companion Through The Darkness: Inner Dialogues on Grief

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

My wife Robin died of lung cancer 11 months ago. My four daughters are heart broken,motherless and trying to cope with the reality of a lifetime without their mom. I came across Stephanie Erricsons book Companion through the Darkness on Amazon .com . Reading this book was an emotional rollercoaster of tears and laughter. Her uncommon insight and understanding of the process of grief and rebirth continues to help me through this hell. I can remember looking at my wedding ring and thinking "what am I to do?" Ms. Erricson had some sage advice which I followed. This book, above all the others I have read, is far and away the most important guide to healing and reconnection you will find.

My young widows' support group all agree that this is the ONLY book that we kept returning to, month after long and lonely month. Five years later this is the book we all buy for the newly bereaved of our aquaintance. Like us, Stephanie has "been there and done that", and we all benefitted from sharing her experiences.

Ms. Ericsson,

In case no one has recently told you, I want to make sure you know the value of your words in "Companion Through The Darkness".

Yes , I am grieving. My magnificent wife who I loved for 31 years died last August from a progressively worsening lung disease that caused her active life to totally collapse the last 7 months of her life.

My wife was a "social" comedian who loved to make people laugh, of Italian heritage but born in Nice, France area, an accomplished artist whose paintings of Provence hang in many homes here in New England, a gourmet cook whose charity dinners sold for over $1000 and who could throw a dinner party together for 12 people in a wink and have all the diners laughing the whole evening. She was always attired in her own fashion and had style and taste groomed from France and Italy but still took delight in helping her female friends shop.
She was respected and loved by everyone who knew her. 300 people came to her funeral and most every one wanted to speak about what my wife meant to them.

I tell you all this for a purpose:

This was a woman that was so very hard for her husband to lose. The agony of my grief was unbearable. I threw out many meaningless articles and books sent to me. Yours was the only book that from the moment I started reading helped me. I found such amazment in your description of what I was feeling.
I have reread it often and continue to do so as my life goes on to a "next chapter". I find I want to compare what you did under similar circumstances.

I am now ordering additional books- one for a friend in need and one to give to a psychologist friend to recommend to his patients as he sees fit.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for your wonderfull insight, sensitivity and writing ability.

The first book on grieving that I haven't thrown across the room in disgust! The first one I've read that actually put real, honest words around the horror of losing the love of my life. I find myself wishing friends and family would read this one, but I don't think I would have been able to before my husband's death. A must for facilitators of grief support groups, especially if they have never experienced the death of a beloved spouse themselves.

This book was by far the best book on grief and grieving I have come across and I have shared it and recommended it to my counselors, other widows, family and friends. The straight and honest language used so totally expresses the emotions and experiences of grieving the loss of a spouse. I found this book to be such a wonderful validation of my loss and grief experiences - I rely on it on a regular basis to tell others what I went through. I can't say enough good things about this book and this author. Kudos to Ms. Ericsson!

After I lost my husband this is the only book that had the words to explain the feelings that were occurring. I have never had such feelings before so I didn't have any words for them. This book showed me that I was not alone.....others who lost their husbands had similar feelings (even to the same depth). I strongly recommend this book to any person who has lost their husband. It is not a book to read immediately after the death -- it is better 3 to 6 months after the loss.

Stephanie Ericsson has probably saved my sanity! I lost My Husband - My Love - My Friend on June 13 2002. I have ordered every book on grief that I could get my hands on. This book was the beginning of "answers" and validation that some of the feelings and thoughts I was experiencing were OK. I felt less "alone" for the first time in weeks.
Her writing style is powerful and poignant. There were sentences that made me weep - shout for joy - and feel completely reassured. Her words were obviously chosen with Tender Hearted Care. I felt that my Guardian Angel had led me to this book.
Stephanie Ericsson has provided a great service to those of us who are traveling in the shadows. I applaud her work.

This is the first book that accurately touches what being a "widow" encompasses!! Being a young widow myself since the loss of my soul-mate in 1999, I have read many books dealing with death and the grief process. Ericsson explores poignantly the many facets of loss that a woman experiances after the death a spouse. Her straightforward dialogue of the many struggles that one encounters during this life-changing journey is accurately conveyed to her readers. Her ability to address the many emotions that one experiances after loss of a spouse from the feelings of anger, abandonment, lonliness, resentment, to the need of intimacy and sexuality is refreshingly received. This book is a must read for those in the midst of angst.

I have read every book there is on the grief journey after the death of a spouse. This is the best. The author doesn't muddle her story with psychology and explanations. She relates in incredibly clear style how it is when your spouse dies. She describes the indescribable. This book sould be read by every widowed person. It would be a source of understanding for those who want to provide comfort to a new widow or widower, including professional support persons.

Frozen in time from the shock of my husband's sudden death, someone recommended Ericsson's book and I bought it. This book wraps itself around the soul and gently rattles the tears and then hugs the grieving heart.