Andrea Raynor - The Alphabet of Grief

Reading Andrea Raynors Alphabet of Grief is like sitting down for a cup of coffee with a wise and gentle friend. Raynor understands what it means to grieve, and she reminds us of the larger wisdom of our faith and the story of our lives. After a loved one dies, my patients families sometimes wish there was a chaplain in the community they could call for guidance and comfort after the hospice team says goodbye. Now I can give them this book. It is wise, luminous, down to earth, and enormously comforting.

K ERRY E GAN , author of On Living and Fumbling

There are no perfect words when someone grieves, which is why The Alphabet of Grief provides a wonderful way to move through the process with bite-sized wisdoms. Raynors personal, alphabetical blueprint allows us to take sorrow and loss at our own pace to come out on the other side.

L EE W OODRUFF , New York Times best-selling author

Andrea gently guides the reader through the ins and outs of grief. This book teaches what you may experience in grief and how to help someone navigate through it. Knowing profound grief myself, I found comfort in the words living on as a way to honor my son Chase.

R EBECCA K OWALSKI , mother of seven-year-old Chase who lost his life in the Sandy Hook Elementary tragedy

In this compelling and comforting book, Andrea Raynor uses her finely honed wisdom from years of ministering to the grieving to accompany us down a path of exploration and healing. You will nod in recognition of the truth being shared and shed healing tears of gratitude for the profundity in these pages.

F ATHER E DWARD L . B ECK, CP , CNN religion commentator and author of God Underneath: Spiritual Memoirs of a Catholic Priest

Each short essay in The Alphabet of Grief is profoundly moving and insightful. For example, Andreas piece on Dinner becomes nearly luminous as she narrates how death redefines our ordinary. We linger with her in such vivid detail that the helpful meditations and affirmations at the end of each section arrive almost as an afterthought. As a health-care chaplain, Andrea has a wealth of experiences to draw upon, but she doesnt hold back personally, bravely processing her own grief for her father. You and I are the recipients of this treasure.

R T. R EV. G EORGE E . P ACKARD , retired bishop for the armed services and federal ministries, the Episcopal Church

Compassionate and inspiring, The Alphabet of Grief provides a framework to process the multifaceted emotions surrounding the loss of a loved one. Raynor empathically caresses our bleeding hearts and gives practical suggestions to soothe our pain. This book is a blessing to anyone who has ever lost a loved one. For those who have been spared such a loss, Raynors words will reaffirm the commitment to love with abandon.

T HERESA J OSEPH , coauthor of Everyday Mystic: Finding the Extraordinary in the Ordinary

A beautifully written self-care guide to live by when a loved one has died, this book offers practical wisdom I will use on a daily basis when counseling hospice families in anticipation of the death of a beloved. Andreas inspirational stories will help the grieving make sense of their personal expression of emotions during this sacred and vulnerable time.

M ARY L ANDBERG , hospice RN, MPH, and CHPN and author of Enduring Love: Inspiring Stories of Love and Wisdom at the End of Life

Andrea Raynors thoughts and words lead the reader to understand death and love in a new waythe way that leads to healing. I commend this book to those who are grieving, to those who help others going through that journey, and to professionals who may use it as a resource.

R EV. D R. B ILL S HILLADY , executive director of the United Methodist City Society

Andrea Raynor writes about grief with such compassion that youll feel as if she has wrapped you in a warm blanket. Her alphabet touches on all aspects of grief. In acknowledging the breadth and depth, Raynor shows us that we will get through it, each at our own pace. Everyone who has suffered a loss should read this book.

A NNABEL M ONAGHAN , author of Does This Volvo Make My Butt Look Big?

The Voice That Calls You Home: Inspiration for Lifes Journeys

Incognito: Lost and Found at Harvard Divinity School

The Choice

A Light on the Corner: Discovering the Sacred in the Everyday

T HE A LPHABET OF G RIEF

All Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Details in some anecdotes and stories have been changed to protect the identities of the persons involved.

Hardcover ISBN9780735290297

Ebook ISBN9780735290303

Copyright 2017 by Andrea Raynor

Cover design by Mark D. Ford

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Published in the United States by WaterBrook, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.

W ATER B ROOK and its deer colophon are registered trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Raynor, Andrea, author.

Title: The alphabet of grief : words to help in times of sorrow / Andrea Raynor.

Description: First Edition. | Colorado Springs, Colorado : WaterBrook, 2017. |

Identifiers: LCCN 2017008983 (print) | LCCN 2017030046 (ebook) | ISBN 9780735290303 (electronic) | ISBN 9780735290297 (hardcover)

Subjects: LCSH: GriefReligious aspectsChristianity. | BereavementReligious aspectsChristianity.

Classification: LCC BV4909 (ebook) | LCC BV4909 .R39 2017 (print) | DDC 242/.4dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017008983

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For Sorcha

Grief brought you to me

love keeps you close.