Making Space for Grief During the Holidays Free Workshop and more!

Hello All!

I wanted to check in and give an update before we head into the holidays and 2026.

1. Making Space for Grief During the Holidays

Lynn Shattuck (co-editor of The Loss of a Lifetime) and I will be leading a FREE Zoom workshop on December 16th entitled, Making Space for Grief During the Holidays.

Here’s a brief description:

Alyson and Lynn will use the frame of the Winter Solstice to discuss all winter holidays and how to live through them while simultaneously grieving. We will light candles, share a reading and invite attendees to participate in a writing exercise.

We’d love to see you. Here is the sign up link.

2. The Loss of a Lifetime

Lynn and I have been busy this fall taking apart in different book clubs, podcasts and spaces (you can click here to see a recording of our webinar with Caring Matters) talking about sibling loss and all we’ve learned from co-editing The Loss of a Lifetime: Grieving Siblings Share Stories of Love, Loss and Hope. It’s been incredibly healing connecting with so many siblings and getting this collection out in the world.

Recently, we received this incredible review from Diane Gottlieb in Hippocampus Magazine.

From the review: Lynn L. Shattuck in the “Editor’s Note” writes: “My hope for this collection of essays on sibling grief is that it allows other grieving siblings to see and feel the vastness of their own loss, and that it acknowledges sibling loss as the uniquely lengthy, painful, complicated, and so often, invisible brand of bereavement.” The anthology certainly does all that. But The Loss of a Lifetime is not just for “forgotten mourners.” It provides a balm for anyone who has lost a loved one and teaches every reader how to sit with those in grief, pay attention, and honor their loss.

Thank you so much Diane, for taking the time to read our book, and for your generous review.

You can order the book here.

And if you’ve read the book we’d love it if you could leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads, reviews help other grieving siblings find the book.

3. Sibling Loss Book Club

Just last week we hosted our sibling loss book club with Meg Kissinger and her incredible book, While You Were Out: An Intimate Family Portrait of Mental Illness in an Era of Silence. What a book and conversation! We have a short video that highlights what we covered up on our website, you can find it here.

4. Where I’m From

It’s been a few months since my last update and in that time 21 wonderful people have joined me to share their poems and a chat. What a blessing starting this project over 4 years ago. I couldn’t have known how much joy, community and hope it would bring into my life. I’m grateful for each childhood photo that shows up in my inbox, each poem and conversation. In order to carry on during these truly challenging times I need to believe that small actions matter and this is a weekly reminder of that truth.

Thank you to everyone who joined me.

#201 Manuel Bermudez

#202 Kim Pitts Kim Pitts

#203 Sally Jane SmithSally Jane Smith travel author

#204 Allen Stein

#205 Lindsey Weidenbach Lindsey Weidenbach

#206 Jasmine Vallejo-Love Jasmine Vallejo-Love

#207 Heather Sweeney Heather Sweeney

#208 Suzanne Roberts Suzanne Roberts

#209 Christina Francis-Gilbert Christina Francis-Gilbert

#210 Bryn Gribben Bryn

#211 Mina Adlan

#212 Katherine Beth

#213 A.L. Garcia

#214 Mo Daviau Mo Daviau

#215 Karie Fugett Karie Fugett

#216 Melissa Petro Melissa Petro

#217 Meghan Britton

#218 Jennifer Hilbert Speak

#219 Jessica Connelly

#220 Kelley KorbinKelley Korbin

#221 Alyson Soko

5. Where I’m From Podcast

Around the Where I’m From episode #200 celebrations we launched a Where I’m From podcast, that goes back to the beginning, and repurposes the audio from the Instagram Lives into podcast format. It’s been a treat revisiting these poems and conversations. If you have a friend or family member who is interested in Where I’m From but isn’t into Instagram or YouTube this is a ideal place to start.

#1 Mesa Fama Mesa Fama

#2 Angelique Gagnon

#3 Kelly Burch

#4 Judith van Praag Judith Van Praag

#5 Aimee Seiff Christian Aimee Seiff Christian

#6 Tiffany Babb

#7 Alexis Donkin

#8 Emily Brisse Emily Brisse

#9 Giselle Interiano

#10 Elizabeth Heise

#11 Meg Nocero

#12 Stacy Mendell

#13 Ann Kelly

#14 Alyson Shelton & Anonymous

#15 Lucie Frost Lucie Frost

#16 Vanessa King

#17 Peg Conway Peg Conway

Thank you to my producers Ria Carrogan and Paul McGuigan for the time and love they pour into this project. They are definitely the reason it exists in this format.

5. No Contact: Writers on Estrangement

Thrilled to share the cover and pre-order information for the estrangement anthology, No Contact: Writers on Estrangement edited by Jenny Bartoy. I’m very proud to be a part of this book, with my essay Water is Thicker. I wish a book like this existed when I went no contact back in the 90’s. I didn’t have this book or even the phrase, “no contact.” It’s powerful to see how much this topic is in the zeitgeist now after being treated like a shameful secret for generations.

If you’ve made it this far, thank you! I hope you’ve found wonderful things to watch (Stranger Things, One Battle After Another and Sorry, Baby) and read, I certainly have. Here are a few of my favorite books:

The Translator’s Daughter by Grace Loh Prasad

Fawning: Why the Need to Please Makes Us Lose Ourselves—and How to Find Our Way Back by Dr. Ingrid Clayton

Flamer by Mike Curato *Bonus you can hear me discuss this incredible graphic memoir on Banned Books with Tonya Todd, Dominic Lim and Cheryl Schmidt.

Big virtual hugs, thank you for everything! Alyson