Erin Davis, one of TorontoB次元官网网址檚 best-loved media personalities, has written a powerful book called Mourning Has Broken about coping with grief, after she received the shattering news her 24 year-old daughter had died in her sleep.

On May 11, 2015, just before 6 a.m. Davis was preparing to do her radio show, when she and her husband got the call she says B次元官网网址渄estroyed us, for a time.B次元官网网址�

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Lauren Davis had gone to sleep and not woken up, dying of unknown causes.

As well as experiencing the trauma of losing a child, as a public figure, Davis had to contend with the media interest in her daughterB次元官网网址檚 death and her reaction to it.

Lauren was well known to DavisB次元官网网址� audience. Her impending birth had been announced on air and Davis spent the first three months after it hosting her radio show from home. Lauren had grown up in the public eye, appearing with her mum on radio and television as a child, before pursuing her own fledgling radio career.

But now Lauren had inexplicably died, leaving behind a husband and eight-month-old baby.

Four years later, now living in North Saanich, Davis describes her new home as being, B次元官网网址淟ike a dream. So soothing and a wonderful place to heal.B次元官网网址�

Part memoir, part how-to, Davis says the book charts B次元官网网址渉ow to reclaim joy and find meaning in your life, keep going and prove you can survive the worst thing to happen to a parent or a loved one, especially when it is your only child.B次元官网网址�

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Davis says the book gives advice, in the often unfamiliar landscape of other peopleB次元官网网址檚 grief.

B次元官网网址淥ne of the strongest messages I have is donB次元官网网址檛 be afraid to say their name. DonB次元官网网址檛 be afraid of destroying the person who is grieving, because theyB次元官网网址檙e already destroyed. So go ahead, tell them how the person who is gone affected them, how they made them laugh, why they are special. That can mean the world to someone who is missing such an immense part of their lives and their heart.B次元官网网址�

Davis says she and her husband Rob drew strength from reading Facebook posts about Lauren from her friends and co-workers. LaurenB次元官网网址檚 story also touched musicians Olivia Newton-John, Amy Sky and Beth Neilsen Chapman, who were listening to the radio on the morning her death was announced. They wrote a song called My Heart Goes Out To You in tribute. Davis heard them perform it in Seattle and Newton-John provides the foreword for the book.

Davis is a seasoned writer, scribing a blog since 2003 that attracts 2,000 readers a day. She says writing Mourning Has Broken was painful and not at all cathartic, but she has been touched by readersB次元官网网址� reactions who have described it as heartfelt, inspirational and, in some parts, funny.

A poem, written on LaurenB次元官网网址檚 sonB次元官网网址檚 first birthday, five months after her death, is included in the book. B次元官网网址淪ay her name,B次元官网网址� was written after Davis realized no one was mentioning LaurenB次元官网网址檚 name during the subdued celebrations, for fear of causing each other pain.

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In SidneyB次元官网网址檚 Iroquois Park, there is now a bench dedicated to Lauren called A MotherB次元官网网址檚 Rest: Dream a little dream of me.

Signed copies of Mourning Has Broken can be bought in TannerB次元官网网址檚, Boleyn Books, MunroB次元官网网址檚 Books, Chapters Indigo Mayfair or at .

nick.murray@peninsulanewsreview.com
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