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Mapping Grief: Why I Wrote "The Luck We Carry"

After my husband Ken died, the world felt…strange.

Writing became the place where I could put everything down on the table and try to make sense of it. I wrote while he was in hospice, and after he died, I wrote even more. Pages and pages. Some of those early pieces eventually became the essays in The Luck We Carry.

But when I began shaping the book, I realized I wanted to do something a little different.

Each essay is followed by an author’s note—where the current version of me looks back at the moment the essay was written and connects the dots. It’s the perspective that only comes with time.

Because grief is a landscape.

And when you’re walking through it, there aren’t many markers to tell you where you are.

My hope is that this book might be one small marker for someone else. A reminder that someone has been here before—and that you will find your way forward.

📖 The Luck We Carry: Love, Loss, and the Stories That Shape Us

E-book preorders are open now, and the paperback releases March 23.

If the story resonates, I’d love for you to:

• Preorder the book: https://ronstempkowski.com/where-to-buy-the-luck-we-carry/

• Join my newsletter for writing, reflections, and updates: https://ronstempkowski.com/join-the-journey/

• Comment and share so more people who might need this story can find it

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