"So Sorry For Your Loss" - Dina Gachman
Dina Gachman's mother died of cancer in 2018 and less than three years later her sister died of alcoholism. A career journalist, Dina turned to writing as one way to make sense of these world altering losses. She recently published, "So Sorry for Your Loss," a series of essays that combine personal reflections with information she gathered from professionals working in the world of grief.
In this conversation we discuss:
- How recalling memories of her mom and sister has become less painful
- Parenting a young child while grieving
- How she realized she needed additional support
- Finding comfort in the Continuing Bonds theory
- When grief feels like agitation
- Approaching the five-year anniversary of her mother's death
- How her mom continued to carefor her even as she was dying
- The expectation vs. reality of hospice care
- Using humor as a way to cope - and carry on her mom's legacy
- Grieving two losses in such close succession
- Recognizing that grief started when her mom was diagnosed, years before her death
- The gift of growing up in an emotionally expressive family
- GIEAs - Grief Induced Emotional Avalanches
Dina Gachman is an award-winning journalist, Pulitzer Center Grantee, and a frequent contributor to the New York Times, Vox, Texas Monthly and more. She’s a New York Times bestselling ghostwriter, and the author of Brokenomics: 50 Ways to Live the Dream on a Dime.