My name is Jennifer, but I go by Jen. One of my deepest fears in life was the thought of losing someone I loved. When that fear became a reality and I lost my father, followed closely by my mother, I came to understand that grief was not unfamiliar territory for me. Throughout my life, I had encountered various forms of grief—through painful miscarriages, the end of a job, the loss of a beloved pet, a difficult divorce, and a foreclosure. Each of these experiences, in their own way, brought a heavy weight of sorrow. Some losses I navigated with relative ease, while others took me much longer to come to terms with. Yet, through it all, I’ve learned a vital lesson: a loss is a loss. The ache that fills your heart and the heaviness in your stomach are universal signs of grief that we all endure.
The Quiet After 