Life after Death: Practical Help for the Widowed

The weeks and months following the death of a spouse can be times of shock and intense grief. After that initial period, however, the one who has been widowed comes to the realization that life goes on, even if in a way that is profoundly changed.

Elizabeth Bookser Barkley lost her husband, Scott, in 1999. With three daughters to raise alone, she found that moving forward was made easier through the strength of friends and by staying in touch with her spiritual core. Life After Death is for those who have passed through that initial period of grief, and have begun to settle into a new life of living as a widow or widower. It is a book filled with the hope that comes from patience and understanding, from a willingness to believe that our lives continue to be enriched by not only the relationship we had with our spouse, but by our relationships with family, friends, and God.

The book is formed around practical topics that Barkley has taken from her own experience of widowhood, with advice from several grief support group leaders. It includes examples not only from Barkley's life, but from the lives of the women and men she has met over the years. Each chapter is enriched with practical information, as well as references to literature, saints, the Bible, and contemporary culture.