Parentless Parents

Gilbert (Always Too Soon: Voices of Support for Those Who Have Lost Both Parents) uses interviews, focus groups, surveys, and her own experience to explore the issues and challenges facing new mothers and fathers whose parents are dead. She discusses the vacuum one feels when one wants to share a child's milestone and the absence of a safety net when one is overwhelmed. She also points out that not having a grandparent is a loss for a child as well. Gilbert offers positive ways of keeping alive the memory of one's parents, such as taking children on a "Grandparent Tour," putting together a slide show or book, and cooking traditional family foods. A memory journal template and survey responses provide further assistance. This book on an unaddressed subject fills the need, with empathy and hope.