Normal Broken The Grief Companion for When It's Time to Heal but You're Not Sure You Want To

None of us make it through life without experiencing loss that leaves us feeling broken. That’s what makes grief so normal.

In Normal Broken, Kelly Cervantes isn’t trying to tell you what to do, how to feel, or the right way to heal. She’s also not flinging sunny thoughts, vibes, and prayers at you. After losing her daughter to epilepsy, she knows that grief is many things. It’s weird. It sucks. It’s all-encompassing. Something everyone will have to deal with. But never linear. Just as what we are grieving varies, so do our journeys to process it.

Normal Broken was born out of this desire to meet people where they are in their grief journeys, to lend a hand, or maybe to just sit in the dark with them. To acknowledge your brokenness and to feel broken together—never pressured to “move on” or “think positive.”

With chapters that can be read in any order, Normal Broken is divided into “moments” of grief that will allow you to choose what you need at any given time—such as:

• When you’re not sure if you want to heal 
• When your greatest fear is socializing
• When you’re facing anniversaries and other meaningful dates
• When you’re ready to be okay 

Kelly also shares stories from her ongoing journey, along with advice she wishes someone had given her, and simple exercises to help you reflect on where you are.  Normal Broken is designed to serve as a companion through your own grief journey, whether you are mourning the loss of a child, a friend, a family member, or anyone special in your life.

Kelly Cervantes is an award-winning writer, speaker, and advocate best known for her blog Inchstones, where she shared the stress, love, and joy that came with parenting her medically complex daughter, Adelaide. Since Adelaide’s passing, Kelly has continued to write candidly about her arduous and, at times, contradictory grief journey.

She has been published in the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Sun-Times, and Cosmopolitan, as well as quoted in the New York Times, CNN, and People. She is the current board chair for the nonprofit CURE Epilepsy and also hosts their biweekly podcast, Seizing Life, where she interviews scientists, doctors, and individuals affected by epilepsy. Kelly currently resides in Maplewood, NJ, with her husband, four children (two physically, two spiritually), and their two dogs, Tabasco and Sriracha.