Michele Neff Hernandez - Different after You: Rediscovering Yourself and Healing after Grief and Trauma

Michele Neff Hernandez is an inspiration. She has a true gift for connecting people, giving them hope and camaraderie at a time of profound loss and loneliness. I have been blessed to witness Michele helping hundreds if not thousands of recently widowed people navigate the traumatic landscape of loss with her profound compassion, love, and kindness, giving so many a safe space to heal and connect.

Marian Fontana, author of A Widows Walk

Michele not only is committed to providing hope and healing to millions of grievers but has the business acumen and strategic mind to ensure the success of her work for decades to come. Her book, Different after You, will fit right into the beautiful, strong world she has created this past decade and take it to the next level.

Christina Rasmussen, author of Where Did You Go? and Second Firsts

Different after You serves as a compass for widowed people and those who have experienced any kind of trauma, guiding us on a journey to our true selves. By sharing her personal and professional experiences of grief and trauma, Michele Neff Hernandez has mapped our circuitous path toward self-acceptance and integration. This book is a must-read for all widowed people and anyone whose life has been changed by trauma.

Amy Yasbeck, actress and founder of the John Ritter Foundation for Aortic Health

Michele Neff Hernandezs book, Different after You, achieves something that previously seemed impossible: making grief feel less lonely. When I lost my partner Fernando Bengoechea in the 2004 tsunami, and talked about him on The Oprah Winfrey Show, many viewers, especially young adults, shared that it was the first time that they had witnessed an expression of LGBTQ grief and, too, LGBTQ love in the mass media. After speaking at Camp Widow in early 2020, and now reading Micheles book, Im reminded of how healing and impactful sharing our pain and experiences can be. Different after You addresses almost every question about the grieving process and the individual journey of inhabiting a changed life.

Nate Berkus, interior designer and author of The Things That Matter

Michele Neff Hernandez is a beacon of light and hope. A generous and soulful visionary, she consistently brings messages of inspiration and resilience. Her commitment to transforming the lives of widowed people is a gift to the world.

Tembi Locke, New York Times bestselling author of From Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily, and Finding Home

Loss changes us in profound and unexpected ways, and we struggle with the stranger within. But thanks to Michele Neff Hernandez and her practical and inspiring book, theres hope. Sharing her own painful loss, Michele comforts and validates our pain as she gently points us through the rubble of grief toward rebuilding a life that better fits our new selves a life that is different but no less meaningful and satisfying. Different after You is a book to read and reread and would make a thoughtful and helpful gift for anyone going through the pain of loss.

Margaret Brownley, New York Times bestselling author of Grieving Gods Way

I met Michele Neff Hernandez shortly after the death of my wife in 2008. Theres no one more connected to, nor anyone whos forged more connections in, the vast and diverse widowed community than Michele. Her commitment to linking people through shared experiences is steadfast, and shes made it her lifes mission to build an inclusive network for all widowed people. Sometimes awful things happen and you do your best to make the most of the mess the world has dropped in your lap. Michele has done just that, and helped millions of other widowed people do the exact same thing. Over the years Micheles dream has blossomed in ways that have surprised everyone but her.

Matt Logelin, New York Times bestselling author of Two Kisses for Maddy

For more than a decade, Michele Neff Hernandez has been a leader in the widowed community. Her tireless work has helped shape countless lives and impact them for the better.

Michelle Steinke-Baumgard, author of Healthy Healing and cofounder of Live the List Nonprofit

Michele Neff Hernandez took the worst tragedy of her life and, instead of letting it destroy her, turned her pain outward as a light, as a beacon to other widowed people wandering in the same fog. Soaring Spirits has saved lives, including mine, by providing resources and a community that doesnt judge, talk down, or condescend to you. It does not try to fix you or make you the same as you were before your loss, but rather respects and considers the seismic shift in your life and gives you tools to help rebuild.

Leslie Gray Streeter, author of Black Widow

Michele Neff Hernandez has an uncanny ability to inspire in people a practical, loving, and compassionate belief in themselves and their own ability to heal through the power of community, an edict she lives by every day. Michele is a natural bringer-together of people and has become a superhero to thousands of grieving people as she lovingly guides them through the stages of grief, walking alongside them and holding their hand every step of the way.

Abigail Carter, author of The Alchemy of Loss and Remember the Moon

Experiencing the loss of a loved one can be profound, and heartbreaking, and devastating. Michele Neff Hernandez has healed and grown through her own grief to guide so many others from pain to peace, from trauma to triumph.

Lissa Coffey, author of Closure and the Law of Relationship

For more than a decade, global visionary Michele Neff Hernandez has gracefully and unfailingly stood as brightly as the sun, shining brilliant rays of light onto millions of widowed people living in the dark shadows of grief and trauma. With a profound personal knowing, a passion to create positive change, and a dynamic drive to lead compassionately, Michele founded Soaring Spirits International, the premier peer-based widowed support organization in the world. I am eternally grateful to Michele Neff Hernandez for her ability to help others restore, renew, and rebuild their lives.

Susan Hannifin-MacNab, MSW, PPSC, author of A to Z Healing Toolbox

Michele Neff Hernandez has the uncanny ability to talk directly to your heart about what it means to experience loss. What makes her especially unique is her unrivaled ability to offer hope and support to those grieving. Spend time in Micheles presence, and you will be changed forever.

Nancy Saltzman, PhD, author of Radical Survivor

I will never forget the relief I felt in meeting Michele Neff Hernandez just six months into my grief journey. She accepts everyone where they are and welcomes them into her community. Her amazing ability to connect with people, whoever they are and whatever their background, made me feel at home. It has been a blessing and an inspiration to know and learn from her.

Harold S. Buchanan, chairman of Helping Other People Evolve, Inc., and coauthor of Seven Sisters and a Brother

Michele Neff Hernandez is an innovator. Through her work founding Soaring Spirits International, Michele has repaired many wings and inspired thousands of widowed people to know, love, and celebrate the people they are today.

Dr. Gloria Horsley and Dr. Heidi Horsley, authors of Open to Hope and founders of Open to Hope

Born with the longest arms, Michele Neff Hernandez can wrap them around thousands of people at once through her words of comfort, care, and concern. She has lifted thousands of people from great pain to personal empowerment through her insightful programs and her gentle touch of everyday thoughts, shared through her presentations. In true honesty, she is a widow whisperer, one who provides people with tools to learn, live, and love themselves in order to be the best versions of themselves.