Finding Your Way After Your Spouse Dies

by Marta Felber

Overview

There is nothing you need more than the warm, reassuring voice of one who has traveled this path before. . . and survived after suffering the death of a spouse. In Finding Your Way After Your Spouse Dies, Marta Felber offers just such a voice-caring, hopeful, always pointing ahead to a tomorrow that will be a little easier than today. Having experienced her own spouse's death, Felber is never glib or simplistic. She knows the grief her readers are feeling and she encourages them to give it full expression. At the same time, she offers sound, practical suggestions on how to navigate difficult days. This book shies away from none of the difficult issues of bereavement. Felber gently urges her readers toward careful, honest examination of the issues they face.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780877939320
Publisher:	Ave Maria Press
Publication date:	02/01/2000
Series:	Finding Your Way Series
Edition description:	Revised
Pages:	160
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.37(d)

About the Author

Marta Felber has worked as a counselor, social worker, and educational consultant in various locations in the United States and abroad. She did social work in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and counseling in the Palisades School District, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Felber worked overseas as school counselor at the Cairo American College in Egypt and head of the counseling center for expatriates in Jakarta, Indonesia, a position she held for ten years. During those years she also served in a consultant role, working with teaching staffs at international schools in Nepal, India, and Bangladesh.

She returned to the United States and entered private practice in counseling, combined with leading groups and workshops. After the death of her husband, Felber wrote two books about the grieving process, Grief Expressed When a Mate Dies and Finding Your Way after Your Spouse Dies. She currently lives in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Table of Contents

1.	Open the Door	10
2.	Create Your Own "Comfort Place"	12
3.	Build a Support Network	14
4.	Accept the Crying	16
5.	Ask for a Hug	18
6.	Deepen Your Faith	20
7.	Recognize Denial	22
8.	Start a Journal	24
9.	Benefit From Meditation	26
10.	Schedule a Physical Check-Up	28
11.	Walk Each Day	30
12.	Eat Regularly and Well	32
13.	Appreciate the Straight Stretches	34
14.	Organize for Early Tasks	36
15.	Prepare for the Night	38
16.	Greet the Day	40
17.	Ignore Certain Messages	42
18.	Give Positive Feedback	44
19.	Postpone Some Decisions	46
20.	Get a Grip on Finances	48
21.	Get Off the Treadmill	50
22.	Assume Control	52
23.	Make Home Yours	54
24.	Visualize and Plan Ahead	56
25.	Prepare for Celebrations	58
26.	Comfort Your Younger Children	60
27.	Share This Loss With Your Grown Children	62
28.	Welcome the Unexpected	64
29.	Venture Out Alone	66
30.	Employ the Wisdom of a "Worry Box"	68
31.	Improve Lonely and Alone Times	70
32.	Focus Your Grief	72
33.	Relieve That Day	74
34.	Write a Letter	76
35.	End the Play	78
36.	Picture the Person and Feel the Spirit	80
37.	Maintain Inner Communication	82
38.	Live in the Present	84
39.	Acknowledge the Imperfections	86
40.	Attend to Unresolved Grief	88
41.	Forgive and Find Peace	90
42.	Let Nature Heal	92
43.	Resolve the Guilt	94
44.	Face Your Fears	96
45.	Express Your Anger	98
46.	Sort Through Your Loved One's Belongings	100
47.	Recognize the Special Challenges Men Face	102
48.	Find a Support Group	104
49.	Share the Grief of Others--But Don't Be Overwhelmed	106
50.	Celebrate a Birthday	108
51.	Choose to Fulfill	110
52.	Create Memorials	112
53.	Begin to Play (Again)	114
54.	Volunteer and Help Others	116
55.	Enter the Internet	118
56.	Generate Some Laughter	120
57.	Look in the Mirror	122
58.	Consider Your Wedding Ring	124
59.	Proceed Slowly With Dating	126
60.	Contemplate Remarriage	128
61.	Measure Growth and Accomplishments	130
62.	Take Stock and Set Goals	132
63.	Seek Additional Help	134
64.	A Note From the Author	136
	Resources	138
	Where to Find ...	151

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"This book presents a guide for coping with the practical issues that face the recently widowed as they struggle through the grieving process. It is written by one who has experienced personal grief and loss and understands what needs to be faced when a spouse dies." —Mauryeen O'Brien, O.P., author of Praying Through Grief