Give sorrow words

by Tom Crider

This is a book for any bereaved person who is facing loss without the support of firm religious beliefs. When Tom Crider's only child, Gretchen, died in an apartment fire her junior year in college, there seemed to be no way to assuage his pain or to find meaning in his daughter's sudden death. Now he has written the book he searched for in his grief and couldn't find, one that offers - without sermons or certainty - companionship in agony and an exploration of spiritual issues related to death. It's a book for readers, people who would, in sorrow, naturally turn to books for shared experience, reflection, wisdom - comfort in words passed down through the ages. Give Sorrow Words begins just after Gretchen's death. It ends a year later as her father begins to accept his loss. With exquisite honesty, Crider describes his struggle with grief's turbulent emotions, a mind unhinged, and an ego intent upon preserving its illusions. By interspersing the narrative with entries from his journal,