#1 Amazon Kindle bestseller in Business & Money > Business Consulting > Health & Stress
#1 Amazon paperback bestseller in Biographies & Memoirs > Regional U.S. > New England U.S. Biographies
This book tells the story of my grief journey back to thriving after my husband died of pancreatic cancer in 2016. A memoir where you will feel seen, heard and known and a Blueprint for moving forward after any loss, my book details the exact steps I took to find solutions for every breakdown I experienced myself. Now I serve my grief coaching clients with them.
The issues I encountered included:
- Loss of control in the face of overwhelming feelings
- Reduced trust in myself, forgetting my purpose
- Communication breakdowns with people, which cause misunderstandings and being abandoned
- Impaired ability to be productive and get things done at work and at home
- Timeline for grieving, which lasted years and made it so hard to see a bright future
If you are grieving yourself or care for someone who is and don't know how to support them, I wrote this for you. Nobody talks about what grief is like from the inside. I decided to be that person, to shift the conversation from private to public.
Grief does not discriminate and touches everybody. It's not just death of a loved one, I understand this deeply myself.
Moving forward through grief is easier in community and with the 5 Pillar Life After Grief Blueprint I created for myself and my grieving clients, you can:
1) RECONNECT with yourself
2) RE-ENGAGE in the world
3) REINVENT your identity
4) REBUILD your networks of support
5) RESET your path forward
In my grief, I was ‘too much’ and my grieving went on for ‘too long’, I lost people I counted on to support me. I struggled with memory, energy and not feeling like myself. Unable to find the resources I needed, I built them.
Excerpts from other Amazon readers' reviews...
"Whether your grief is relatively new or decades old, The Bad Widow Guide to Life After Loss is the ultimate guide to navigating grief with grit and grace." CsmilleDBN
"I am not a widow but this book helped me see hope out of grief and loss" BRD
"Reading Alison Pena's no-holds-barred description of the process of grieving/grief was a breath of fresh air. Although I have not lost my spouse, I identified with so much of her experience - especially around the expectations of others about how I should handle devastating events." Ted Krever
"Her story is real. She was able to put in words how I feel. Now I know I am normal." Amazon Customer
"Heartwarming book of a wife’s great love for an artist and life partner." kipsbayplace
" It's the perfect mix of profound caring and love and grieving, plus a clear vision about how to survive and live in the real world. Ms. Pena confronts the most terrible loss with her whole being... As a rabbi, I can say that I've never seen anyone straddle the poles of engaging in the present, looking to the future, and cherishing the past." Joel B. Gordon
"We certainly feel her heartbreak, but she has sifted through her emotions to find kernels of truth and wisdom." Kevin S. Hall
"This is one of those books I didn't want to put down. The author shares the different stages, struggles, and decisions she faced during her husband's illness and passing, and her subsequent journey forward." Karen
"Deeply vulnerable in sharing the story of the tragic loss of her husband, Alison Pena gives the reader a realistic look at what it means to lose everything and then re-build an amazing life." Emi Kirschner
"Brilliant. Sensitive. Insightful. A guide and an oracle for life after loss." Laura Shabott
Alison Pena, aka Bad Widow, is a lifelong New Yorker, a passionate advocate for living life boldly. She offers grief resilience coaching, based on her own experience, and is selling her artist husband's legacy of art. Alison loves participating in open mics, both poetry and music, and summers in Maine.