in august 2021, my bonus dad died. and a piece of me went with him. at the time, i was fully pregnant and struggling with hormones. only to be met with soul shattering grief. and, worse, there was no balm for it. no remedy in sight. everything i read or researched just didn’t seem to help me navigate the profound heaviness that sat on my chest everyday. so, what did i do? i created the resource my soul needed to have as i (as *we* - grief is not experienced alone) try to keep breathing and keep putting one foot in front of the other. I had no idea that i would be finishing it on the heels of my beloved grandmother’s death as well. all the more reason to do the work. this work. of healing while it still hurts. this journal (“good grief: a guided companion of reflection, lamentation, and prayer for people of faith navigating loss) is 80-pages of curated questions, quotes, and prayers taken from the deepest places of theological training and spiritual wisdom that i have. it features scripture, Black feminist scholarship, psychological research, and poetry. it blends together my love for womanism with my desire to see people whole. i have no idea what will come on the other side of it. but i am praying to make this grief be a time of learning and loving {our selves} more fully.