Losing a father can be a complex and confusing transition.

Whether a father was beloved or feared, the loss and grief is a process--one that sometimes begins before the physical loss has occurred. Drawing on his own experience of losing a father, as well as on the experiences of others, grief counselor and educator Harold Ivan Smith compassionately guides readers through their grief, from the process of dying through the acts of remembering and honoring a father after his death. This book provides a way forward.

By shifting the grief process from something to rush through, Smith encourages readers to embrace their grief as a natural response to loss and to give themselves time to work through the sadness, ambiguous feelings, memories, and reality of living without a father. A father's death inevitably changes us. With gentle and wise words, Smith speaks to people who have gone through this loss and helps those yet to face it. This edition includes a new foreword from the author.