Melody Beattie's (of Codependent no More, etc) son died at the age of twelve. After many years of struggling and coming to terms with her grief she wrote this book to help others through various kinds of grief--loss of a child, a relationship, suicide, ill health, the empty nest syndrome, etc.

While she has some useful things to say about acceptance -- much taken from AA and Al-Anon, much of how she has come to terms with the losses and difficulties in her life, and what she recommends is religious faith, which is not always accessible to others. She finds comfort in believing that she will be re-united with her son when she dies. Not not all religious faiths hold with this concept, and for those who never had, or who lost their religious faith due to a an extremely painful loss, will not find this useful.

On the other hand, those with a strong connection to AA and/or AL-Anon, or to a Christian religious faith, will find some hope and comfort in this book.