Finding The Words

A powerful account of one father’s journey through unimaginable grief, offering readers a new vision for how to more actively and fully mourn profound loss. When Colin Campbell’s two teenage children were killed by a drunk driver, Campbell was thrown headlong into a grief so deep he felt he might lose his mind. He found much of the common wisdom about coping with loss—including the ideas that grieving is a private and mysterious process and that the pain is so great that “there are no words”—to be unhelpful. Drawing on what he learned from his own journey, Campbell offers an alternative path for processing pain that is active and vocal and truly honors loved ones lost. Full of practical advice on how to survive in the aftermath of loss, Finding the Words teaches readers how to actively reach out to their community, perform mourning rituals, and find ways to express their grief, so they can live more fully while also holding their loved ones close. Campbell shines a light on a path forward through the darkness of grief. Hardcover Edition "An honest, pragmatic, and comforting field guide for each of us searching for a way to live with loss." --Steve Leder, bestselling author of The Beauty of What Remains "Few books have captured, with such painful grace, the reality of catastrophic loss like Colin Campbell's. My heart broke open reading Finding the Words. In this beautiful and poetic narrative, Ruby and Hart's dad takes the reader on a winding road of emotions, from grief and loneliness to meaning and threads of hope. I wept many kinds of tears reading this book. And I am better for having read it." --Joanne Cacciatore, PhD, author of Bearing the Unbearable "This is one of the most honest and refreshing takes on grief I've ever read. Finding the Words weaves the author's deeply personal story of loss with truly useful advice and insights. This profound book will offer comfort, guidance, and hope to anyone seeking something to hold onto in even the darkest of times." --Claire Bidwell Smith, author of Anxiety: The Missing Stage of Grief