Grief doesn’t just take the person you love. It can take pieces of you, too.

After a profound loss, you may expect sadness. What you may not expect is how grief can change the way you see yourself, the world around you, your relationships, your reason for getting up each day, and even your ability to imagine a future.

The 5 Things Grief Stole From You: A Guided Workbook for Rebuilding What Loss Took Away explores five deeply personal areas that grief can disrupt: Identity, Security, Connection, Purpose, and Future.

Drawing from her own experience of losing her husband, Vic, Stacey Cook-Frederick combines personal reflection with practical exercises designed to help grieving people understand what has changed—and begin rebuilding from where they are now.

This is more than a book about grief. It is an interactive workbook created to be written in, returned to, and used at your own pace.

Inside, you'll explore:

Identity: Who am I now that the person I loved is gone?
Security: Why doesn’t the world feel safe anymore?
Connection: Why can I feel alone even when surrounded by people?
Purpose: What am I supposed to do with my life now?
Future: How do I dream, plan, and look forward again?

Throughout the workbook, you'll find self-assessments, grief myths and truths, real-life examples, Stacey’s personal story, rebuilding frameworks, reflection questions, journaling prompts, healing practices, practical exercises, action plans, and weekly check-ins designed to help you recognize where grief has affected your life and identify small ways to begin moving forward.

This workbook does not ask you to “get over” your loss, forget the person you love, or return to the person you were before.

Instead, it introduces a different possibility:

You are not starting over. You are rebuilding forward.

Your loss will always be part of your story—but it does not have to be the end of your story.

Whether your loss is recent or years behind you, The 5 Things Grief Stole From You offers a compassionate place to examine what grief changed, honor what remains, and begin discovering what life can become from here.