A Thousand Pounds: Finding the Strength to Live and Love under the Weight of Unbearable Loss

Awarded 1st Place in the 2023 Catholic Media Association's awards for Grief and Bereavement books!A Memoir of grief after life-changing loss. A Companion to those in the trenches of grief. A Journey to authentic integration, peace, and hope.Crushed by the weight of life-changing loss, how do we find the strength to carry unbearable grief with peace? This is a book that will pierce your heart and leave you changed. It is a journey from debilitating grief to a new depth of healing and hope.With raw authenticity, Brianne Edwards shares her story of the loss of her son and gives readers a powerful encounter with the heart of a bereaved mother. Yet A Thousand Pounds is much more than a memoir.Masterfully combining story and research, Brianne accompanies readers through the painful wilderness of their own grief journey. Both academic and anecdotal, each chapter addresses the hard questions faced in grief, including:how we find meaning in our sorrowthe value of leaning into the hard emotionsthe wild emotions of early traumatic grief, the transitions of middle grief, and learning to carry the long-term grief that always remainslearning to forgive those who disappoint us as we grievethe physical symptoms of grieffinding connection and companionship in our griefwrestling with God because of our loss“When I was new in my grief,” Brianne explains, “I longed for the people who wouldn’t dance around the hardest stuff. I needed people who could meet me where I was, and I needed the light of others in those darkest places.”For those who are grieving: “I am offering you something that I needed in my own grief but was often hard to find—a companion in my dark night of the soul."To those who want to support a loved one who is grieving, Brianne shares: “One of the most powerful gifts that others gave me in my grief was a heart open to hearing my story and eyes that didn’t avert their gaze from my pain. This book offers you a window of understanding and an opportunity to grow in your capacity to accompany your loved one in their grief."Free companion journals help readers explore the depths of their own grief and wrestle, together with Brianne, through the hard parts of being bereaved. Instructions for downloading the free journals are given in the book. Read more