The Empty Chair

When a loved one completes suicide, the reaction to such a sudden and final act can sometimes delay the healthy grieving process. This book describes and offers guidance for each emotion and issue that one encounters following a loved one's suicide.

A suicide in the family...time stands still. For little while or a long while. Whereas the world whispers its regrets and then continues on, our body shuts down. At first, we measure time in breaths. We can't move, we can't eat, we can't think, we can't hear, we can't sleep. We feel desperate and disconnected. Disconnected from our loved one in the middle of a sentence. Disconnected from ourselves and our lives. We are in shock, and it may last for two days, two weeks, two months...sometimes even longer. When a loved one completes suicide, the reaction to such a sudden and final act can sometimes delay the healthy grieving process. This book describes the grief process as it is experienced by a variety of people. In it we address the emotions and expressions of grief common to most people after the death of a loved one, list them in alphabetical order, and offer stories and insights of fellow travelers. We call it the "glossary of oh-my-gods."

Beryl Glover, from Wilmington, North Carolina, lost her daughter and brother to suicide in 1983 and her husband to a viral infection in 1993. She has participated in survivor support groups, facilitated meetings and presented at conferences and workshops. In addition to writing, she nourishes her soul in the company of family and friends, and by skippering her boat in search of dolphins along the Intracoastal Waterway.