How to Survive the Worst That Can Happen: A Parent's Step by Step Guide to Healing After the Loss of a Child

by Sandy Peckinpah

Sandy Peckinpahs sixteen-year old son woke up with a fever and was dead the next morning of bacterial meningitis her life changed forever.She found herself in the depths of unimaginable despair. Then, someone gave her a journal, and writing opened her journey of self-discovery in learning how to live life without her beautiful child. Words illuminated her path of discovery and she began to document the things that helped her, and others like her, to find resilience. This is a practical, inspirational guide to coping with the many facets of bereavement; learning how to talk about your loss, the aftermath of sorrow, handling fear and anger, helping your living children adjust, strengthening your marriage, experiencing miracles, and the promise that you will regain a quality of life where youll feel joy once again.If youve lost a child or know someone who has, this story is one youll relate to and find comfort in knowing youre not alone. Sandy is a mother who has experienced it, and shes a Certified Grief Recovery Specialist from the Grief Recovery Institute in Los Angeles.

170 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 26, 2014

About the author

Sandy Peckinpah is the author of 4 books, including the multi-award winning, “How to Survive the Worst that Can Happen.” Her articles on resilience are featured in Huffington Post, Thrive Global and Medium. Sandy was forced to “re-invent” herself after several devastating life events. Sandy is a broadcaster on Periscope, having done over 350 shows, sharing her passion for helping people rise up and transition through life’s difficult challenges to be successful and happy. Her step-by-step approach to living a creative life has resulted in several of her clients now having published books, and more importantly, having discovered they have a legacy to share.

Reviews for Sandy's Book:

How to Survive the Worst That Can Happen: A Parent’s Step by Step Guide to Healing After the Loss of a Child by Sandy Peckinpah is a self-help book aimed at helping parents through their worst nightmare - the loss of a child. Everybody's grief is different but in the end we all go through the same grief stages. Sandy gives you practical step-by-step techniques on how to live through these stages, what to expect, and how to heal. Through different techniques like expressing your feeling through writing, leaning on the love and support of your friends and family, sharing your story and many more, the book shows you how to live through this nightmare and finally move on with life.

How to Survive the Worst That Can Happen is a book that teaches you how to heal after losing a child. Sandy Peckinpah starts the book off with her personal story, her own journey through the loss of her 16-year-old boy and this sets the mood right away for the book and creates that special connection with the reader. It is not about forgetting the past, but about the healing process through accepting the loss and moving on, keeping the memories of your departed child. Sandy's words feel genuine all through the book, probably because she has been there and she is not just writing theories but tackling a topic that is very dear to her heart. It is simply amazing how she handles this very delicate subject in a way that is both sad and comforting; giving you hope that losing your child, as painful as it might be, is not the end of your life. It will hurt like hell and will change your life forever, but you will learn to live again.

Book Awards:

2014 Silver Medal Reader’s Favorite Book Award Winner

NABE Spring 2014 Pinnacle Book Achievement Award

Reviews

[Sylvia Clare · Rating 5 out of 5]

I almost read this in one sitting, except that I had other things to attend to, which meant it was read over three days instead. It was a planned read, but as thignsso often do work synchronistically it also arrived through my door just as we had a family crisis and a near/ possible death in our own family. Although the worst has been averted we are still nto clear what the long term holds in terms of quality of life from brain injury.
So the grief and loss in this book met mine head on and it was just what i needed to get myself into a place of presence t support those who need it more than i do. This story is desperatly tragic, but it happens. It happens to families far and wide every day, one way or another. and this part memoir part support book really does cut through to the essentials, how to cope, how to get through and how not to let the grief destroy other things / other relationships. Life must go on whatever has happened and it should always be a great life where possible. As it says, if you read this book because this has happened to you then I am so sorry for your grief, but you are not alone, you really aren't.