Product Description

Forgotten Tears is a unique and honest portrayal of a grandmother's grief journey following the stillbirth of her granddaughter. Our death fearing and death denying society perpetuates the sense of isolation felt by grandparents, who tend to be viewed primarily as a source of support to their bereaved child. A distinctive feature of this book is the validation of grandparents as mourners in their own right. Along with quotes from leading grief authorities, writer Nina Bennett, a bereaved grandmother and healthcare professional, offers an intimate perspective on the process of redefining normal in a life forever changed by the death of a grandchild.Forgotten Tears reviews the traditional stages and theories of grief and also contains personal accounts from bereaved grandparents on various aspects of their grief journey. Although the main emphasis is on miscarriage, stillbirth, or newborn death, the exploration of the grief process is applicable to the death of a grandchild at any age. The focus of the book is on the depth and intensity of the grief experienced by grandparents. Forgotten Tears challenges the very concept of resolution and openly discusses the belief that grief is an ongoing,lifelong process. Numerous suggestions for coping and ways to memorialize deceased grandchildren are offered. Although nobody willingly embarks on this journey, it does present the opportunity for personal growth and transformation. Learning to make peace with the pain enables grandparents to honor their grandchild by reinvesting emotional energy in the joy of living.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #392763 in Books
• Published on: 2005-07-08
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 144 pages

About the Author

Nina Bennett, whose educational background is in psychology, was a childbirth educator for nearly ten years. She currently works in the HIV/AIDS field, where she has been employed since the early days of the epidemic. A healthcare professional and frequently requested guest lecturer, Nina presents talks and workshops locally and nationally. Her articles have appeared in newsletters and magazines such as Different Kind of Parenting, M.I.S.S.ing Angels, and Living Well Journal.

Customer Reviews

The Grief of a Grand Parent
Nina Bennett's book, Forgotten Tears, starts with her granddaughter Maddy's unexpected still birth. From this painful experience, she ultimately offers a sensitive and inclusive book on the subject of personal grief. She highlights a topic not often discussed: How grandparents' grief over the death of a grandchild is indeed sometimes forgotten, even though their grief is arduous.

The author artfully shares her struggle with grief until a sense of renewal reigns. Bennett is passionate about giving her grief meaningfulness to herself as well as helping others find their path alng the grief journey.

Included are individual stories, and suggestions to permit grief to forge character through redefining normal. Anyone experiencing loss of a loved one will benefit from this foundational book on grief. Excellent bibliography and resource section.

Judy Martin-Urban, author of I Can't Remember Me, inspirational nonfiction LangMarc Publishers May 2006 www.judeurbanski.com

A wonderful, heartfelt piece of work
Written by a bereaved grandmother who is also a healthcare professional (former childbirth educator and reproductive healthcare specialist, now working in the HIV/AIDS field), this is an intimate portrayal of her own grief journey following the unexpected stillbirth of her beloved granddaughter. The author manages to weave theoretical material about grief and mourning in and amongst her very private journal entries and personal experiences, which makes this work valuable not only to mothers and grandmothers but to mental health professionals as well. The book is clinically accurate and current, incorporating material from leading experts on bereavement as well as anecdotal experiences gathered from other bereaved grandparents, so that it will appeal to clinicians as well as members of the lay public. I especially appreciate how, through her own touching examples, this author gives bereaved families permission to keep the memory of their babies alive and to continue to develop a connection with them through the years. As Lorraine Hedtke so accurately observes (...), sadness is only one aspect of the complexity of grief, and remembering is what helps us manage our sorrow more effectively. I have listed this book on the pages of my Grief Healing Web site (...) as one I highly recommend to my site visitors, clients and colleagues.

Very comforting
I bought this book for my husbands mother. She had a really hard time coping with the loss of our son. She felt like no one understood her and she herself could not understand some of her emotions. She would call me everyday to tell me what she had read and how similar the story was to ours. When she finished the book she seemed as if she understood now. She told me that we cant try to get over what happened but to interpret it into our lives.