In her new book Griefprints: A Practical Guide for Supporting a Grieving Person ($14.95), Radha Stern offers compassionate and sound guidance for understanding and helping a grieving loved one. She also shares her own moving story.
Radha Stern is no stranger to grief. In 1996 her twenty-two-year-old son, Christopher, was murdered, and she started down the long road of healing and coming to terms with her loss. While Stern believes that “closure” is a myth, she is living proof that you can gain solace, acceptance, and the strength to reclaim your life even after the most tragic loss. Stern found support from others who had walked the same path, and she quickly realized that everyone grieves differently. “Grief is like fingerprints; everyone grieves in their own way,” she says. Still, one thing that remains constant is that support from family and friends can nurture the healing process, and make the journey less painful.
Since the 1996 murder of her son, Christopher, Radha Stern has devoted herself to helping others who have lost a loved one due to a violent crime. She is active in the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, the Insight Prison Project, and The Compassionate Friends (for parents who have lost a child), and has donated her skills to numerous organizations that help critical-needs populations. She is a contributor to the inspirational book, Courage Does Not Always Roar: Ordinary Women with Extraordinary Courage. A native Californian, she lives with her husband Gary, and together they have five children and five grandchildren.