The Loss of a Lifetime: Grieving Siblings Share Stories of Love, Loss, and Hope

By Lynn L. Shattuck , Alyson Shelton

Those who lose a sister or brother to death are often referred to as “forgotten” or “invisible” mourners. But the impact of outliving a sibling is complex and long-lasting, stretching and morphing over the years.

This collection of writing from 26 authors examines sibling loss from a number of unique perspectives, including dealing with the death of an estranged sibling, unpacking delayed grief, what it means to know your existence is inextricably tangled with a sister’s death, and exploring signs and continuing bonds, while also validating common experiences among grieving siblings such as having our loss overlooked, a lack of resources and the impossibility of “getting over it.” These stories affirm that the death of a brother or sister is a profound and life-altering loss–and that both love and grief can last a lifetime.

After Suicide

By John H. Hewett, Wayne E. Oates

For the individual in the throes of responding to the suicide of a loved one, this book provides valuable insight into the experience. This kind of cognitive knowledge can actually alleviate suffering by being a reliable guide through the process.

Child’s View of Grief

By Alan D. Wolfelt, Lori Mackey (illustrator)

This concise resource for parents of grieving kids explores several key principles for helping children cope with grief and offers ways to create an emotional environment filled with love and acceptance. It answers common questions such as “What should I say to children when someone they love dies?” and “Should young children attend funerals?” This guide also identifies and explains typical behaviors, thoughts and feelings of grieving kids and offers adults tips for responding to them.

Companion Through the Darkness: Inner Dialogues on Grief

By Stephanie Ericsson

As a result of her own experience with many kinds of loss, Stephanie Ericsson offers an intimate, profoundly touching guide for those in grief, legitimizing the complex and often taboo emotions we all feel when loss transforms our lives. In Companion Through the Darkness, Stephanie Ericsson defines grief as “the constant reawakening that things are now different.” Using a very simple format which combines excerpts from her own diary writings with brief essays, she vividly speaks the language of loss and captures the contradictory, wrenching and chaotic emotions of grief.

Red Chocolate Elephants

By Diana C. Sands

Red Chocolate Elephants’ is an activity book and DVD resource for children bereaved by suicide. In a world where children are often forgotten mourners, this unique combination of text, pictures, and voices—all in the words of bereaved children themselves—will be a treasured safe haven for young people to hear their fears, questions, and difficulties put into words by other children just like them.

The Forgotten Mourners: Sibling Survivors of Suicide My Brother Peter

Nomi Berger, 1998, Robert Davies Publishing

Twenty-seven years after her brother Peter’s apparent suicide in 1968, Nomi Berger set out to uncover the truth not only about how he died, but also about how he lived. This book chronicles her search for that truth, together with her efforts to purge herself of her own powerful guilt. It also describes a sister’s journey toward healing, illustrating that there’s no statute of limitations on either guilt or grief, but more importantly, on one’s ability to seek and eventually find peace of mind.