The Sibling Grief Buddy Book
Perzine, Earla Dawn Legault, 47 pgs, [email protected], free
Grief is an ongoing process that doesn’t magically end, even when someone is ready to accept the loss of a loved one. Author Earla Dawn Legault knows. Her sister’s battle with cancer and eventual death stays with her every day as she learns to cope with her sadness in uplifting and inspiring ways. Her first-person approach is vivid, with the zine turning into the warm hug that you never knew you needed.
Throughout the zine, Legault lets the reader into her mind, with lots of handwritten marginalia giving a glimpse into her process. As a result, some moments are goofy, some are fleeting, and many are profound in their simplicity. “Some days my loss of my sister overwhelms me to a moment of sheer sadness, and then I look outside and see a tree standing tall, a blue sky with birds flying and I feel peace,” she writes in one such moment.
There is a practical angle here too, as Legault explains various techniques she uses to cope. She describes making friends with grief buddies who have experienced similar loss and can offer a helping hand and a big hug. While many people avoid talking about their sadness, she voices hers. It’s important to vent and mourn.
Legault also spends some time dis- cussing the death of her father, who died more than 30 years ago. Battling the loss of two loved ones in different timelines is difficult, and reveals long haul of the mourning process. I admire Legault’s embrace of this emotional growth, earnestly learning how to live a full life despite it all, and it all comes together in this dense, powerful zine.
