Poems From A Grieving Heart

About the Book

Josie (her siblings call her 'Jo') deeply grieved when her brother died. He had been such a part of her life. It was like losing a part of herself and she missed him terribly. She cried, yet most of the time she hid her pain and cried alone.

We hide this pain so as not to burden others with our grief. We cry alone because at times, people don't know how to react to our tears - they feel uncomfortable and don't know what to say. Still other times, we simply want to be alone without others around. We want to be able to cry and grieve, to feel our pain and be with 'them'. Jo and her brother Rick spent many, but many hours together - the two of them.

Jo wrote about four hundred poems within a period of two years. Here in this book you'll find about one hundred of these poems. Poems from a Grieving Heart invites you to share in her sorrow, what she experienced after the death of her brother - to walk on the 'stones that make up this road' - that led and guided her on 'this path of grief'.

It's been said that a gift is left behind when someone parts - when death takes and robs our loved ones from us. And it seems - the gift Rick left his sister was this need to write down her thoughts (her poems), to express her feelings. All that she felt during this time - the hurt and pain she experienced, the loss and emptiness she felt when he left.

With all this pain in her heart, it's hard to see how this can be a gift - but she couldn't have written these poems if it wasn't for him. Yes, it's been said that when someone dies they leave a gift behind. Rick left her with this gift. Her gift to him is this book, Poems from a Grieving Heart, to honor him, to keep his memory alive.

About the Author

Josie (Jo) is the oldest of five, a mother of five and a grandmother of two. She was nine years older than her brother Rick - although she'd been more like a mother to him, an older sister and yet more like his twin. Yes, they had been very close and he left a void in her life when he died.

Writing these poems was her way of holding on to him (his memory, her love for him). It was her way of reconnecting with him, of not letting him go. It was her way of dealing with her grief, of coping with her loss. And so she wrote all her thoughts - memories - during this time.

And although many of her poems are very personal, in this book, Poems from a Grieving Heart, you'll find poems that others can relate to. For we all feel the same pain, the same loss, and we question life when death takes those that we love.