Why? Do we have to? Can’t we talk about something more uplifting? Most people I have met don’t like to discuss death. We do ourselves a huge disservice by avoiding conversation about the only thing besides birth that every single human being is guaranteed to experience. So I say, let’s talk. Not about the stages of grief, not by using abstract terms or common platitudes, but let’s share the lessons that grief and loss have taught us. I will use the experience of losing my 39-year-old husband in a bicycling accident and the stories of love and loss I have gathered from men and women all over the world to facilitate conversation about how losing someone we loved changed our lives. And I am willing to bet that you will feel yourself being lifted by the stories you find here. Grief changes us; sometimes even for the better.

Michele Neff Hernandez is the Executive Director of the Soaring Spirits Loss Foundation. Visit www.sslf.org if you or someone you love needs support as they grieve the loss of someone they love.