Cherishing The Art of Fully Living While Still Loving and Honoring Those Who’ve Died

After the death of someone close to you, you enter a time of deep grief. And if you use this time to actively, intentionally engage with your grief, you find helpful ways to express it. You do the work of mourning. You share it outside yourself—in doses and over time—so that you begin to integrate your loss into your ongoing life. In other words, you mourn well so that you can heal well—and live and love well again. Eventually you understand that while your grief is never “over,” it is reconciled. It is an integrated part of your life story. Your love is not “over,” either, of course. You feel it in the present just as much as you did in the past. So after your time of deep grief has passed, how do you continue to love and honor the special person who died even as you fully live your own remaining precious days here on earth? In response to this common challenge, this book by one of the world’s most beloved grief counselors proposes a way of being Dr. Wolfelt calls “cherishing.” To cherish means to protect and care for lovingly, and to hold dear. The mindset, suggestions, and practices in this resource will help you build cherishing into your daily routines.

Alan Wolfelt has been recognized as one of North America's leading death educators and grief counselors. His books have sold more than a million copies worldwide and have been translated into many languages. He founded the Center for Loss in 1984 to offer education and support both to grievers and bereavement caregivers. He is known around the world for his compassionate messages of hope and healing as well as his companioning philosophy of grief care. Dr. Wolfelt speaks on grief-related topics, offers trainings for caregivers, and has written many bestselling books on grief.