Gifts of Grief

About the Book

Just days after Jacob and Kristine Watson celebrated their thirty-third wedding anniversary, Kristine unexpectedly passed away while on a family reunion. Jacob was devastated, engulfed in grief. A writer, he did the only thing he knew: he wrote. In Gifts of Grief, Watson shares his story as he describes the unexpected gifts he received, not only from friends and neighbors, but from the universe, soap bubbles, a hummingbird, a neighbor’s cellar candle, green tree leaves overhead, an offshore ocean chorus, sailing on a wooden schooner, an English teapot, and monarch butterflies. Through his journaling, Watson learned more about who he was and who he was becoming as a widower. He tells how grief can’t be scheduled. It has its own way. Grief is now simply a part of him. In Gifts of Grief, he offers his encouragement to others to trust grief, to acknowledge it, and to find a way to express it.

About the Author

Jacob Watson is a writer and spiritual teacher. When he lost his wife, Kristine, suddenly, he experienced unexpected gifts from his grieving, gifts that continue. He is an ordained interfaith minister and the founding abbot of the Chaplaincy Institute of Maine. He provides individuals and groups with Spiritual Companionship and may be reached at revjwat@gmain.com.