Edward Gray

Ed Gray graduated from Cornell with a degree in mechanical engineering and earned his MBA while in the military. He is the author of the new book, Essence of Grieving. From the early 1970s to the end of 2007, his career was marketing and new business development for plastics in the auto industry. Ed has been doing woodworking since he was a teenager. Recently this has evolved to sculpture involving natural materials such as driftwood and stone. He is widowed and lives north of Ann Arbor, Michigan. In his blended family, there are six children and eleven grandchildren (so far). Ed enjoyed poetry as a child but never wrote any until he met his wife Nancy in 1984. She inspired him to begin writing; her creativity, artistry, and loving support encouraged him to develop his poetry extensively. Ed published his first book, In Rhythm with Your Feelings, early in 2004. His next two books, both published in 2005, were “adult humor”: Ode to a Load and Ode to a Load … Look, I did a number 2. He was working on a fourth poetry book when Nancy became ill and then passed away from ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease). To help him through her dying process, Ed began journaling. Toward the very end of Nancy’s life in June 2008, this had evolved into using poetry to express how he felt and what was happening in his life. This poetry exploded after her death and has been a crucial part of his movement through the grieving process and transition back into life.

Articles:

Handling the First Holidays After a Loss

Suffering loss of a loved one can be painful enough, but it is more difficult during holidays and special occasions.  Missing your lost loved one is most keenly felt during these times.  Your feelings are most pronounced when the event happens for the first time after the death, and, among grievers, these are sometimes called “The Firsts.” The “Firsts” You’re in the grieving process and Developing OK; But, things do change and you’re set back, When come the “special days”. For Christmas, anniversary, Or birthday…you’re aware; Such days bring floods of memories, You visualize them there. For any special fam’ly […]

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Remembering Dad in Poetry

Father’s Day in 2007 was one of the real highlights of the relationship I had with my dad. Mom had died in May, 2007. Dad was wearing out (he was 94), but hung on until Mom died.  He seemed to be doing well for a couple of months after Mom’s death, but it was short-lived. It was right around Father’s Day of that year that we seemed to connect better than we ever had before.  I treasure the time I had with him over those precious few weeks.  He faded rather quickly in August and died in mid-September of congestive […]

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A Poetic Look at Men and Grieving

My wife died of ALS; during her final 13 months, my mom and dad also died.  It was almost overwhelming, and I learned more grieving than I ever thought I would.  My most effective way of dealing with this was writing and the strongest feelings emerged as poetry. In the months following, I worked with others as I was going on my own grieving journey.  How men dealt with things differently became all too evident.  How they handled grieving can be summarized in three poems I wrote: WE TRY TO FOOL OURSELVES When we are grieving, often times, There’s obstacles […]

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