P.S. I Love You by Cecelia Ahern

P.S. I Love You by Cecelia Ahern

In her 1969 book, On Death and Dying, Elizabeth Kubler-Ross described the “Five Stages of Grief” that individuals experience when facing a loss in their lives, whether the loss is the loss of a loved one or a personal loss, such as the loss of a job. In her first book, Cecelia Ahern wrote about a young woman, Holly Kennedy, who lost her husband, Gerry, to cancer. Holly experienced all of the Kubler-Ross stages of grief, although the book ends before she reaches the final stage, acceptance. Her journey is agonizing, as it is in real life.

The premise of this book is very interesting, for Holly’s loving husband knew that he was going to die, and he loved Holly enough to help her through the grieving process after his death. He left a series of envelopes for her, one to be opened each month, each requesting Holly to take some specific action that would help her deal with her loss. Holly also finds, as we all do, that our family and friends help us deal with our grieving. Holly also found new friends to help her, as occurs in life.

This book is sad. It is not a happy book. But it is a helpful book in that it shows us what the grieving process is like, and it gives us hope that somehow we will make it through to the end point of acceptance of our loss. Of course, we never come to accept fully a deep loss. The grief remains with us forever.

P.S. I Love You