The Gifts of Grief: A Film by Nancee Sobonya

A beautifully moving and inspiring film about the complexity and individuality of grief and loss. A must have for grief support groups, churches, hospice agencies, hospitals, schools, and any other organization that serves the dying and the grieving.

The title alone may make you think "Gifts? What gifts could grief possibly produce?" But, those who have endured a loss know that it leaves an imprint on your soul forever, and not always in a bad way. The stories in this beautifully made film, told by seven remarkable people, illustrate how grief and sorrow can bestow upon us gifts that are treasured for a lifetime.

The stories include that of Isabelle Allende who lost her daughter after a year in a coma. Isabelle paints such a vivid picture of the depths of her sorrow and the process she took to move through her grief. "Grief is like a wave that soaks you through and just when you think you can't take anymore, another wave comes.....and it leaves you soaked like a sponge."

Also included are the stories of Vinny Ferraro who's mother died suddenly when he was 17 and who numbed his pain with drugs before finding a way to heal, and Kenner Stross who lost his two best friends and their two small children in the September 11, 2001, plane crash at the Pentagon. Kenner describes his grief as "An enormous crater that is 20 miles wide and 10 miles deep, belching forth sulfurous, black, acidic smoke......I'm always walking right on the edge of this crater."

With such vivid images of the pain and suffering that loss thrusts upon us, it's encouraging to see how these individuals journeyed through their grief and came out the other side with their hearts full of gifts.