When her husband took his own life, Phyllis MacNamara began to write to help her face the horrible truth. She kept a daily diary about Michael and how he died. Here, she explains how words helped her heal and offer hope to others.

TRAGEDY is a part of life’s cycle. It touches everyone of us on the shoulder at some unknowable moment, telling us that’s it’s our time to cope with a broken heart, to fight our way out of the abyss left by the death of someone we loved with an intensity almost beyond expression.