Finding My Way Through Grief—And How Whole Again Was Born

I never imagined I’d write a journal about grief.

But then again, I never imagined grief would shape my life the way it has.

Losing my dad in 2021 shattered something in me. I was no stranger to loss—my little sister, Neya Elyse, passed away when I was young—but grief as an adult felt different. It was heavier, lonelier, more disorienting. It didn’t just break my heart; it changed the way I moved through the world. And for a long time, I didn’t know how to exist in that space.

I didn’t know how to process the ache of missing someone who wasn’t coming back. I didn’t know how to hold both the weight of my sorrow and the quiet hope that life could still be beautiful. I didn’t know how to keep going when so many pieces of me felt lost in the past.

So I did the only thing I knew how to do—I wrote my way through it.

Whole Again: A Journal for Navigating Grief, Heartbreak & Life’s Hardest Seasons

A Space to Sit with It All

Whole Again wasn’t planned. It came from the pages of my own grief. The journal entries where I poured out the questions I was afraid to say out loud. The prayers whispered through tears. The reminders I wrote to myself when I felt like I was drowning.

I didn’t want this to be another journal that promised “healing” as if grief was something to get over. Because the truth is, some losses stay with us. Some heartbreaks never fully fade. But I do believe we can learn to carry them differently. I believe we can create space for joy without guilt, that we can honor the past while still moving forward. That we can learn to live with grief instead of being consumed by it.

That’s what Whole Again is about.

This journal is a place to lay it all down—the pain, the confusion, the longing, the hope that feels so far away. It’s not about fixing or rushing or forcing yourself to be okay. It’s about allowing yourself to feel, to process, to move through grief in a way that’s honest and gentle.

It will guide you through four spaces: sitting in the stillness, existing in the in-between, gathering strength, and stepping into renewal. Not as steps to “healing,” but as markers along the way, places you might visit more than once. Because grief is not linear. It’s messy, unpredictable, and deeply personal. And that’s okay.

For the Ones Learning to Carry Their Loss Differently

On March 13, 2025—the day my sister Neya Elyse would have turned 21—Whole Again will be released into the world. It’s my way of honoring her, my father, and the many pieces of myself I’ve had to grieve along the way.

If you’re navigating loss, heartbreak, or a season of deep transition, I hope this journal meets you where you are. I hope it reminds you that you don’t have to rush, that you don’t have to have all the answers, that you are not alone in this.

You are still here. You are still becoming. And even in the grief, even in the uncertainty, you are still whole.

With love,

Adreeahna Bree