The Courage to Grieve
My Story of Love, Loss, Grief, and Hope
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
Sleep. What is that? I have not had a good night’s sleep in so long that I can’t remember what one feels like; to go to bed tired after a well spent day doing something constructive and worthwhile, like working in the field building a fence or trimming the hooves on a few goats to make them healthy. Then, I would fall immediately into guiltless slumber and re-awakening eight hours later, rested and ready for new challenges and having a bright outlook on the future. That is what I suppose a good sleep is. A pipe dream for me now, as my nights are filled with fitful nightmares and dreams of what ifs. Headaches and nausea caused by a combination of stress, poor diet, lack of exercise, and sinus congestion hamper my waking time and my sleep. My lack of a desire to take better care of myself is caused by the emptiness inside me that will not relent. I just don’t care. So I dig the hole bigger with hope that I can get deep enough that the pain will ease and the demons of self-awareness will ignore me and leave me in solitude. They say there is light at the end of the tunnel. I can’t even see the walls of the damn tunnel. I’m a blind man walking on the edge of a cliff who thinks he is standing in an empty parking lot. I don’t even care if there is a cliff. It just doesn’t matter. This is my grief.
Formats
Book Details
About the Book
Author David W. Ingram met his future wife, Kimberly, when she sixteen years old. When he was seventeen, Ingram convinced her to date him. They eventually married and lived a loving life together for thirty years. It all came crashing down when Kimberly was diagnosed with colon cancer and waged a battle against it for four years.
In The Courage to Grieve, Ingram narrates his personal story through grief as he learns to live without his beloved wife. It delves into the mind and emotions of a newly grieving spouse and follows him for the first year afterward. This memoir describes an undying love and devotion during four years of suffering, then the aftermath left behind after the death of a beloved spouse.
The Courage to Grieve tells how Ingram drew on his faith in God to choose to survive or give in to his overwhelming sorrow. Written during a year’s time, it offers a sense of hope and recovery for others facing the grieving process.
About the Author
David W. Ingram is a retired 25-year veteran of the Fort Worth, Texas Police Department. A Texas native and graduate of Midwestern State University, David retired from policing to become a full time caregiver to his wife, Kimberly, of 30 years. David now owns and manages a small ranch in Springtown, Texas just miles from the farm where he grew up.