Into the light–: For women experiencing the transformative nature of grief

My very good friend once told me that “coincidence” is God’s way of being anonymous. Then, perhaps it was no coincidence when Fred and Alayne Stassen invited me over for supper. While standing in the dining room my eyes were drawn to a black and white nude photograph on the wall. I stepped closer and instantly a connection clearly spoke to me. The essence of that photograph had poignantly captured and distilled a moment from my own past grief experience. If I had experienced the power of that one image perhaps other women would also. Subsequently, three voices came together to create this book. The first voice is Fred Stassen’s photographic perspective which combines art and skill in creating powerful images and moods. Nude photography is a delicate art. When done effectively, it invites the viewer to be more than an observer of beauty and sensuality. Rather, it provides a medium for expression of human experience… The second voice is drawing on my own grief experiences and those of people I have known to write the verse. My losses include divorce, my children growing up and leaving, parental illness, career shifts, and growing older. Professionally, I’ve shared the sorrow of many individuals and families through hospice nursing. The final voice became evident as I thought about the photographs in the context of a grieving process. Grief has the potential to be a transformative process which fits with John Schneider’s grief model. At critical points in our grief we are clothed in a stronger presence of being. Transformed, if you will, into a wiser and quite different individual than who we were. A final thought. Grief is a common thread that connects us all to¬gether. Perhaps through the words and images in this book there will be opportunities to know that grief has the potential to be foe and friend — something viewed from a distance and felt from within. – Sharon Olson