EBOOK
Different After You
Rediscovering Yourself and Healing after Grief and Trauma
Michele Neff Hernandez(0)
About
A Life-Affirming Process That Provides Transformative Support
No one who lives and loves will be immune from grief and trauma. While this suffering is universal, living through a devastating event often leaves people feeling alone and even alienated. Michele Neff Hernandez experienced this when her thirty-nine-year-old husband died after being hit by a car while riding his bicycle. Her most transformative realization was that grief changes us. There is no going back or bucking up. Life is now different.
In Different after You, Michele presents easy-to-digest steps based on her work with thousands of widowed people and her innovative grief support programs. Through this process, anyone who has experienced life-altering trauma will discover a map for grieving what they've lost, identifying what they've gained, and learning to embrace the person they've become.
"Michele Neff Hernandez's book, Different after You, achieves something that previously seemed impossible: making grief feel less lonely. When I lost my partner Fernando Bengoechea in the 2004 tsunami, and talked about him on The Oprah Winfrey Show, many viewers, especially young adults, shared that it was the first time that they had witnessed an expression of LGBTQ grief - and, too, LGBTQ love - in the mass media. After speaking at Camp Widow in early 2020, and now reading Michele's book, I'm reminded of how healing and impactful sharing our pain and experiences can be. Different after You addresses almost every question about the grieving process and the individual journey of inhabiting a changed life."
- Nate Berkus, interior designer and author of The Things That Matter
"Different after You serves as a compass for widowed people and those who have experienced any kind of trauma, guiding us on a journey to our true selves. By sharing her personal and professional experiences of grief and trauma, Michele Neff Hernandez has mapped our circuitous path toward self-acceptance and integration. This book is a must-read for all widowed people and anyone whose life has been changed by trauma."
- Amy Yasbeck, actress and founder of the John Ritter Foundation for Aortic Health
"Michele Neff Hernandez is a beacon of light and hope. A generous and soulful visionary, she consistently brings messages of inspiration and resilience. Her commitment to transforming the lives of widowed people is a gift to the world."
- Tembi Locke, New York Times bestselling author of From Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily, and Finding Home
"Loss changes us in profound and unexpected ways, and we struggle with the stranger within. But thanks to Michele Neff Hernandez and her practical and inspiring book, there's hope. Sharing her own painful loss, Michele comforts and validates our pain as she gently points us through the rubble of grief toward rebuilding a life that better fits our new selves - a life that is different but no less meaningful and satisfying. Different after You is a book to read and reread and would make a thoughtful and helpful gift for anyone going through the pain of loss."
- Margaret Brownley, New York Times bestselling author of Grieving God's Way
"I met Michele Neff Hernandez shortly after the death of my wife in 2008. There's no one more connected to, nor anyone who's forged more connections in, the vast and diverse widowed community than Michele. Her commitment to linking people through shared experiences is steadfast, and she's made it her life's mission to build an inclusive network for all widowed people. Sometimes awful things happen and you do your best to make the most of the mess the world has dropped in your lap. Michele has done just that, and helped millions of other widowed people do the exact same thing. Over the years Michele's dream has blossomed in ways that have surprised everyone but her."
- Matt Logelin, New York Times bestselling author of Two Kisses for Maddy
"Miche
No one who lives and loves will be immune from grief and trauma. While this suffering is universal, living through a devastating event often leaves people feeling alone and even alienated. Michele Neff Hernandez experienced this when her thirty-nine-year-old husband died after being hit by a car while riding his bicycle. Her most transformative realization was that grief changes us. There is no going back or bucking up. Life is now different.
In Different after You, Michele presents easy-to-digest steps based on her work with thousands of widowed people and her innovative grief support programs. Through this process, anyone who has experienced life-altering trauma will discover a map for grieving what they've lost, identifying what they've gained, and learning to embrace the person they've become.
"Michele Neff Hernandez's book, Different after You, achieves something that previously seemed impossible: making grief feel less lonely. When I lost my partner Fernando Bengoechea in the 2004 tsunami, and talked about him on The Oprah Winfrey Show, many viewers, especially young adults, shared that it was the first time that they had witnessed an expression of LGBTQ grief - and, too, LGBTQ love - in the mass media. After speaking at Camp Widow in early 2020, and now reading Michele's book, I'm reminded of how healing and impactful sharing our pain and experiences can be. Different after You addresses almost every question about the grieving process and the individual journey of inhabiting a changed life."
- Nate Berkus, interior designer and author of The Things That Matter
"Different after You serves as a compass for widowed people and those who have experienced any kind of trauma, guiding us on a journey to our true selves. By sharing her personal and professional experiences of grief and trauma, Michele Neff Hernandez has mapped our circuitous path toward self-acceptance and integration. This book is a must-read for all widowed people and anyone whose life has been changed by trauma."
- Amy Yasbeck, actress and founder of the John Ritter Foundation for Aortic Health
"Michele Neff Hernandez is a beacon of light and hope. A generous and soulful visionary, she consistently brings messages of inspiration and resilience. Her commitment to transforming the lives of widowed people is a gift to the world."
- Tembi Locke, New York Times bestselling author of From Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily, and Finding Home
"Loss changes us in profound and unexpected ways, and we struggle with the stranger within. But thanks to Michele Neff Hernandez and her practical and inspiring book, there's hope. Sharing her own painful loss, Michele comforts and validates our pain as she gently points us through the rubble of grief toward rebuilding a life that better fits our new selves - a life that is different but no less meaningful and satisfying. Different after You is a book to read and reread and would make a thoughtful and helpful gift for anyone going through the pain of loss."
- Margaret Brownley, New York Times bestselling author of Grieving God's Way
"I met Michele Neff Hernandez shortly after the death of my wife in 2008. There's no one more connected to, nor anyone who's forged more connections in, the vast and diverse widowed community than Michele. Her commitment to linking people through shared experiences is steadfast, and she's made it her life's mission to build an inclusive network for all widowed people. Sometimes awful things happen and you do your best to make the most of the mess the world has dropped in your lap. Michele has done just that, and helped millions of other widowed people do the exact same thing. Over the years Michele's dream has blossomed in ways that have surprised everyone but her."
- Matt Logelin, New York Times bestselling author of Two Kisses for Maddy
"Miche