Beyond Tears: Living After Losing a Child

Reviewer: Stephanie Hesse (Rockland County, NY)
Beyond Tears is the poignant, encouraging, eloquent story of how nine mothers coped and are coping with the deaths of their children. The book deals with the various issues faced by bereaved parents and tells how they and their spouses experienced and are still dealing with those issues. This book provides valuable insights for the bereaved at all stages in their grief journeys.
The portraits of the children and the writing of their parents provide a loving and realistic view of the world of bereaved parents.
I’ve read many books on grief since my daughter Linda died eleven years ago. This is one of the best.

Reviewer: L. Contey (Northern NJ)
This book is a must have for any parent who has lost a child, anyone who knows someone who has lost a child and anyone in the mental health field who may come in contact with bereaved parents. Each of the nine authors gives an open and painfully honest account of her loss and journey through the grieving process. There are also sections in each chapter that explain what a bereaved parent may experience as well as what supports these authors found helpful and therapeutic. I especially liked the parts in each chapter where the women are sharing their feelings with one another because it helps to illustrate the importance of critical supports and how these women helped each other to get through the most painful loss any mother could experience. The poems these mothers wrote for their lost children moved me to tears. There is also a chapter in the book where the fathers openly share their feelings and grief with each other as well. I found this book to be extremely well written and, in spite of the difficult subject matter, I had a hard time putting it down.

Reviewer: Gloria Platzner (Sacramento Ca.)
The book’s searing emotional intensity, almost too painful to read, is effectively contained by the careful, rhythmic pacing–statements by nine women who have endured the most grievous of losses alternating with moving evocations of the children they mourn. Anyone who has lost a child– or who knows someone who has– should read it.

Reviewer: Norma Lazar (Queens, N.Y.)
Beyond Tears by Ellen Mitchell and the 9 bereaved parents was “beyond fabulous.” I am a bereaved parent and it was the first book I’ve read on the topic that really helped, guided and provided hope in an honest way for those in the same situation. The brief stories of their children which were interspersed throughout the book added tremendously to the impact of the book.

Reviewer: Dr. Joel Block (Melville, NY, USA)
Courage!
Beyond Tears is extraordinarily moving–and sad. Well written, but a difficult read because the stories are so emotion-filled and the tragedy is overwhelming.

Reviewer: Perry Baron (Long Island, NY)
Insight into the Unfathomable in this Short but Powerful Book
Read this book. Send this book to those you care about, those who might be hurting in a similar fashion, or even those who have been touched by others they care about who have undergone the horror of losing a child. Unfolding within these scant 174 pages, nine mothers, with simple eloquence and brave generosity share with us their individual journeys into the unfathomable; a journey all parents often give thought to and quickly push from their minds - ‘a parent’s worst nightmare.’ These are bold warriors who have put into words their common experiences before and after, and their methods of coping with and defying their pain, honoring their children and teaching others how to do the same. It may be hard to believe but I maintain that while the subject matter may be sad, this is not a sad book, but a book filled with love, hope and rememberrance. A book of instructions on how to help yourself and those family and friends who share your life. One would be remiss if they did not give credit to collaborator Ellen mitchell who presents the stories in such a page turning readable fashion that the book is very hard to put down, and last, but not least, to the fathers who get to ’speak’ to us, albeit briefly in Chapter Nine, but with just as much of a powerful punch.

Reviewer: linda “linda” (new jersey)
Unlike clinical discussions of grieving this book is from the heart. Nine brave hearts, that risked reliving their own pain to share the experience of their personal,intimate journey of grieving for the loss of their children.This book helps everyone understand grief has no timelines,no rules,and no boundries. It is as individual as each personal experience.This book is a lasting,final sacrifice and tribute to their children.

Reviewer: Sondra Valenza “aunt sandy” (Orlando, FL)
A truly Heartwarming Book
Every parent who has lost a child, everyone who knows someone who has lost a child, must read this book. The 9 women and their spouses who were honest and caring enough to write their innermost feelings in the hopes of helping others understand how they coped with one of the hardest experiences life has to offer - that of losing a child, should be commended. They show how different parents deal with the tragedy they all share. They are not alone in their grief and hopefully can help others understand what each person feels may be different, but they all share the common bond of losing a child.
I bought this book for myself and for a dear friend who lost her 8 yr. old daughter. We both read it with tears in our eyes. I truly recommend it to everyone who cares about others.

Reviewer: PWL “10 S Mom” (Syosset, NY)
A great comfort…
I just finished reading “Beyond Tears” and found it to be comforting, informative and beautifully written. These women are very lucky to have found one another…they share a very strong bond…one I am sure they wish they never had.
“Beyond Tears” is a must read for those who have unfortunately experienced a terrible loss in their lives and might not have the courage to attend a support meeting. This book will make one realize that they are not alone in how they feel or how they have been thinking…

Carol Frank, Great Neck Record (Great Neck, NY)
Honest and moving, it is a book that should be read by everyone. For parents who have lost a child, it could well be a lifeline. For professionals who deal with life and death matters daily and who try to insulate themselves from the pain, it is a portal to a potentionally fine tuned level of empathy. And for the bystanders to such a tragedy, those of us who clumsily draw away or say feeble things in an attempt to smooth over someone else’s desolation and our own discomfort, it is a guide to understanding that in such times, it is of inestimable value to “be there” and that sometimes it is better to listen, than to talk.