What Must Be Carried: How to Find Contentment and Build a Beautiful Life After a Life Altering Loss

A guide to start living again for those who have lost a loved one, written by a mother and widow

What Must Be Carried: Living a Beautiful Life Beyond Loss is an empathetic guidebook that walks readers through the grieving process, giving them the tools they need to carry the pain of their loss and start truly living again. With relatable personal narratives from Whitney Lyn Allen Gadecki, mother of two boys, Jackson and Leo, certified grief educator and coach, and a widow whose life has been forever altered by the loss of her husband, as well as actionable advice for those grieving, this book is a perfect, steady companion for anyone impacted by a devastating loss.

This book explores ideas including:

• The emotional range of processing grief, from numbness, to agony and rage, to cascading waterfalls of tears and beyond
• Patience, experimentation, time, curiosity, and practice as difficult but essential foundations of living with and healing from grief
• How to discover contentment, peace, love, and beauty anew, even when it often feels like life is all downhill from here
• Grief’s hidden gifts of helping you live more authentically, ambitiously, purposefully, and fearlessly despite its heavy burden

What Must Be Carried: Living a Beautiful Life Beyond Loss is an important, helpful, and cathartic read for widows and all those who have lost someone precious to them seeking to once again shine brightly in the face of darkness.

WHITNEY LYN ALLEN GADECKI is a mother of two boys, a certified grief educator, and an attorney. She was a medical malpractice attorney for 10 years before her late husband, Ryan, suffered anaphylactic shock from a bee sting, resulting in his death. Whitney wrote about her grieving journey in her memoir Running in Trauma Stilettos. She is currently a full-time grief coach.