About the Book

When you lose someone you love, the grief can be all-consuming. And when the holidays arrive, the pain of that loss can feel even more acute. In "Grief Makes Christmas Complicated: Finding Hope in the Holidays After the Loss of a Loved One," author Bart Blair offers a compassionate guide for navigating the heartache and complexity of celebrating the holidays while grieving.

Drawing from his own experience of losing his teenage son to suicide, Bart shares his journey of facing the first Christmases without his child. With vulnerability and honesty, he validates the pain and challenges that come with holidays after a profound loss. He gently debunks the myth of the "perfect" Christmas perpetuated by movies and media, offering instead a path for experiencing the holidays in the midst of the messy reality of grief.

This book is not a how-to manual for getting over grief, but rather a companion for walking through it. Bart shares hard-won wisdom and practical suggestions for managing the holidays, from setting boundaries and realistic expectations, to creating new traditions and finding ways to honor your loved one's memory. He offers permission to feel the full range of emotions and to celebrate in whatever way feels authentic to your experience.