Voices of Experience: Beyond Loss in a Pandemic

The time of COVID-19 has been characterized as an ongoing traumatic event that has exacerbated the grief process and made it more complicated.  ~ Linda Donovan  

Having experienced the loss of loved ones both before and during the pandemic, author Linda Donovan has developed compassionate and practical ways to help guide people through these challenging times and beyond. Her book Beyond Loss in a Pandemic: Find Hope and Move Through Grief After Someone Close to You Dies provides a comprehensive road map for healing after loss. Donovan has helped countless people through her volunteer work with hospice, where she provides grief support services. She shares how she was able to overcome her own grief, along with stories about how people can deal with a wide range of difficult, complex situations and yet emerge from loss with resilience and insight.

Although this book doesn't replace professional help, it's designed to provide you with comfort and resources. The stories of people you'll read about are composites based on real-world examples. They're about people dealing with many of the issues you might experience. They don't refer to any specific individuals.

Are you ready to move forward and rebuild your life as you move through your grief and work on the challenges you face? Here are some questions to help you decide. You'll find out how to address them and other circumstances in this book.

Would you like to learn how to deal with everyday challenges?

Are you interested in knowing more about self-care and how to make incremental adjustments that will make your life easier?

Are you looking for ways to stay more physically and emotionally healthy?

Would you like to find out how to coope with any lingering feelings of survivor's guilt or unfinished business?

Do you need more insight into what you truly want now that your role, relationship, or situation has changed?

Do you know how to get the emotional, logistical, and financial support you might need? 

Are you interested in going back to work, volunteering, or engaging in social activities but don't know how to get started?

Would you like to learn more about how to stay connected with people and build on relationships, even when you might have more limited opportunities than before the pandemic?

Do you need help dealing with family dynamics or changing friendships and understanding how others are affected by this loss?

Have you thought about what it takes to declutter or simplify your home or life?

Do you know how to set healthy boundaries with people?

Are you struggling with deciding where to live or how to make other major changes?

Would you like to identify and set some achievable goals that are important to your happiness and well-being?

Have you figured out some of the best ways to avoid loneliness and isolation?

If you've lost a husband, wife, or partner--either before the pandemic or more recently--are you interested in socializing with people?If so, do you know how to do this in a way that is comfortable for you?

Let this book be your road map for adjusting to your new life and helping you to achieve fulfillment, hope, and happiness again. I found a way forward and so can you--even during these extraordinary and challenging times.

© 2022 by Linda Donovan
lindadonovanbooks@gmail.com

About The Author: Linda Donovan is an award-winning author, grief support advocate, and communications expert. After experiencing how their hospice team provided so much assistance to her family before and after the death of her husband Paul from cancer, Linda became very involved as a hospice volunteer. She has been leading grief support groups for her local hospice for more than a decade. Her latest book, Beyond Loss in a Pandemic: Find Hope and Move Through Grief After Someone Close to You Dies is aimed at helping people cope with grief and rebuild their lives after loss. She is also co-author of Tech Grief: Survive and Thrive Through Career Losses, which won a Writer’s Digest Award, and author of After Loss: Hope for Widows, Widowers and Partners. Linda taught writing courses at three universities, is a contributing writer for a variety of grief support and self-help publications, and has been a featured speaker at webinars, book clubs, hospice events, community gatherings, and technology conferences. Visit her website, Linda Donovan Books.

Related:

• Bereavement: Doing The Work of Grief
• Managing Grief During A Pandemic
• Writing As A Healing Tool in Grief

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© by Marty Tousley, RN, MS, FT, BC-TMH