It’s not often that a 64 page book with large print is reissued over and over again as a “classic.” In this feature-article length book, Westberg gives a quick apologetic about the need to grieve followed by descriptions of the 10 different stages a grieving person may go through. He wisely notes that not every one goes through every stage, and they don’t always flow in order.

The role of the believer is not to short-circuit the grieving process, but to help the person through the stages.

I particularly appreciated his realism at the start of the final chapter:

Please note that we do not say that the final stage is, “We become our old selves again.” When we go through any significant grief experience we come out of it as different people. Depending upon the way we respond to this event we are either stronger people than we were before or weaker—either healthier in spirit or sicker.

Westberg, Granger E. Good Grief. Fortress Press, 1971.