If you have lost a child, you are without a doubt fighting grief, possibly suffering from depression, and feeling a loss of hope for your future. If this describes you, author Patricia Burgess-Southerland is on a similar life journey as you. In 2003 she lost her only son when he was twenty-seven years old. His death resulting from an automobile accident changed her world forever. Outwardly she appeared the same but inwardly she was devastated, brokenhearted and grief-stricken. After reading many books about grief, attending grief therapy and group support meetings but finding little solace, Burgess-Southerland created her own program of healing. She successfully tested different coping strategies (art, music, yoga), and designed projects (a memorial garden, shadowboxes) to heal her mind, body, and spirit, and to keep her son's memory alive. The loss of a child is a lifelong grief. It isn't a phenomenon we get over or get around; we have to get through it. It is a painful, but heart-centered, spiritual journey. In the chapter "Faith: Religion and Spirituality," many answers are revealed while many questions go unrequited. Beliefs are re-examined while searching for truths in "Why Me?" June Never Came takes the reader into all these genres of grief and reveals astonishing advice that works. In June Never Came the reader is taken on a journey of hope; introduced to the coping strategies and healing projects the author designed for herself and wished to share with other women on a similar path. Inspiration abounds from quotes at the beginning of each chapter, from her unwavering faith, and in the uplifting words of inspiration Burgess-Southerland shares from her heart.
About the Author Patricia Burgess-Southerland has a Master's degree in Urban and Regional Planning. She was a senior planner for the City of Chattanooga in 2003 when she lost her son. After her son's death she found little fulfillment in the field of planning due to the intense changes she underwent within her journey of grief. For the past nine years she has researched grief and studied to be a mentor to women who have lost children. She designed her own coping strategies and healing projects and is now creating a program for women for expanding the spirit and evolving the soul. She lives in rural northeast Mississippi with her miniature schnauzer, Pepper, and her tortoiseshell cat, Cleopatra .
