I Know It in My Heart: Walking through Grief with a Child

A three-week adventure becomes a tragic dilemma for a loving sister, a motherless child, and a terrified father facing unimaginable loss together and using their relationships with one another to survive. I Know It In My Heart: Walking through Grief with a Child explores the impact of early parental loss, the evolution of grief from toddler to teenager, and the devastation of adult sibling loss. Told by Mary E. Plouffe-a grieving sister who is also a psychologist-the story is more than a memoir; it is an exploration of childhood and adult grief, and how family relationships can weave them into healing. Parents, therapists, and anyone else who wants to see loss though the eyes of a child will find useful information here for guiding children through loss, and understanding how those losses impact them as they grow. Narrated with professional wisdom steeped in personal pain, I Know It In My Heart brings us all a step closer to understanding, resilience, and healing.

About the Author :
Mary E. Plouffe, PhD is a clinical psychologist with thirty-five years of experience as a clinician, teacher, and consultant. She has served on the faculty of Maine Medical Center psychiatry residency training program, the Maine Board of Examiners, and The Collaborate School, and has provided consultation to school and courts. Her essays have been published by NPR, On the Issues Magazine, Brain, Child Magazine, Survivor Review, and Mothers Always Write. Find additional information at www.maryeplouffeauthor.com .

Review :
The Independent Publisher Of New England 2018 Book of the Year ( November 2018) 2018 Foreword Indies Finalist in Adult Nonfiction—Grief & Grieving 2018 Readers' Favorites Book Awards Honorable Mention in Non-Fiction—Grief/Hardship 2017 Living Now Awards Silver Medal Winner in Inspirational Memoir, Female 2017-2018 Sarton Women's Book Award Finalist in Memoir 2017 International Book Awards Finalist in Autobiography/Memoir "A remarkable, empathetic, and intense exploration of the nature of grief and guilt, featuring searing personal insights as well as cleareyed professionalism.” —Kirkus Reviews “I wish this book had existed decades ago, to help adults understand how children navigate grief during and after a parent’s death. Kudos to Mary Plouffe, Ph.D. not just for writing this book about the aftermath of her sister’s death, but also for helping her niece adjust to the absence from ages 3-15 and beyond. This is an important addition to the children’s bereavement field. Highly recommended.” —Hope Edelman, author of Motherless Daughters "A beautiful, courageously honest book . . . In I Know It in My Heart, Dr. Plouffe, a clinical psychologist, masterfully interweaves her own grief for her sister’s death with her niece’s, while educating readers as to the emotional and psychological nature of adult and childhood loss. A must-read page-turner: Profound, insightful, and exquisitely written." —Virginia A. Simpson, Ph.D., FT, Bereavement Care Specialist, founder of The Mourning Star Center for Grieving Children, and author of The Space Between: A Memoir of Mother-Daughter Love at the End of Life "Because we are mortal, love always turns to grief; but honest remembering, of the kind Mary Plouffe does here, restores it to its true nature. As a therapist, Plouffe understands the difficult pathways of mourning; as a sister, she has had to walk them in sorrow and wonder; as a writer, she has depicted the terrain with a power and beauty that will make I Know It in My Heart a classic." — Richard Hoffman, author of Half the House and Love & Fury "Mary Plouffe has written an achingly beautiful family guide to loss and healing. This is a story that will make a difference, told with grace and wit and the keen understanding of a sister's grief and a child's capacity for hope.” —Susan Conley, author of The Foremost Good Fortune, Paris was the Place, Stop Here, This is the Place “In a profound yet simple way, Mary Plouffe gives us a compelling personal story of grieving—of her sister's diagnosis, then caring for her little niece, her own family, and herself, then loss, and then on to healing. Her evident experience as a psychologist adds authority to a universal story in a deep and tender way . . . a noteworthy, compassionate companion, eloquent and reassuring.” —Anne Lynch, Director, Maine Center for Grieving Children “Mary Plouffe’s love for her late sister lives on in the close relationship she built with her niece after their mutual great loss, just as it lives on in I Know it in My Heart, a book that so poignantly bows to the often-unacknowledged pain suffered by a grieving sibling, and the life-altering loss experienced by a young child.” —Suzanne Strempek Shea, author of Songs from a Lead Lined Room, This is Paradise, and Sundays in America “A searing, beautifully written story of unfathomable grief and unbreakable family bonds. If you are a human being, read this.” —Monica Wood, author of When We Were the Kennedys and The One-in-a-Million Boy