The Goldfish Went on Vacation: A Memoir of Loss (and Learning to Tell the Truth about It) Book

I picked this book off of the bookshelf hoping to learn something about grief and helping children, and their families through loss. It was a tough, but necessary read, especially for my profession. Everyone is going to be there for the family, giving them information, whether it's filled with medical terminology or advice as to how to get through the loss that has occurred. In my career, as a CCLS, I'm supposed to be there for the children, whether it's a child who's parent has died, or a sibling of a patient who has passed away. I was excited to open this book, as weird as that may sound, because I thought it'd give me all the answers. It didn't, but I'm not quite sure any book has all the answers as to how to help someone with death, because none of us are okay with it. None of us welcome it, and most do not know how to go through it. Each case is individual, and should be treated as so. The CCLS in the book did mention that there are three things to look out for in a child when their parent is ill, which I found extremely helpful, and plan to take with me in my career: 1. children tend to think they may have caused it 2. they may be frightened they can catch it 3. they might become sick more often or worn down, especially for the attention. It was interesting to see how a child deals with the illness of his parent, but I was able to also see that it was just one child, and other children may deal with illness and loss differently. I would have liked to see a more loving viewpoint. I felt as if the author was disconnected, and that the book lacked that love that is felt between spouses, between a parent and child. I felt myself wanting more from this book than it had to offer. Seeing the author's viewpoint on stories, and how they shape our lives was great and all, but I feel like the author could have told her story better.