About this item
The death of someone we love cracks us open inviting us to become the person we were born to be. This is the book Tom Zuba wishes he had read after his daughter Erin died. And after his wife Trici died. It's the book he wishes he'd been handed following his son Rory's death. But Tom had to live it. First. Before he could write it. For you. In the beginning, Tom did grief the old way. Repressing, denying, pretending, numbing and stuffing every feeling and every emotion that arose. He created pain on top of pain until he began searching for a new way. A new way to do grief. Once he gave himself permission to mourn, healing began. Along the way, Tom discovered that: * Grief is not the enemy. Grief can be one of our greatest teachers. * It's the stories we tell that determine whether or not we will heal.
About the Author
Tom Zuba is a life coach, author and speaker teaching a new way to do grief to people all over the world. Tom offers those living with the death of a loved one the tools, knowledge, and wisdom to create a full, joy-filled life.
Tom grew up in Rockford, Illinois with his seven brothers and sisters. When Tom was 6-years-old, his baby brother Daniel Patrick died suddenly of an undiagnosed heart defect. Danny's death was Tom's first experience with an intimate death. Tom graduated from Northern Illinois University in 1978 with a degree in Special Education. In 1985, Tom married Patricia Brennan in Oak Park, Illinois. Four years later, Tom and Trici welcomed their first child, a daughter, Erin Brennan Zuba.
On July 18, 1990, following a five-day illness, Tom's 18-month-old daughter Erin died suddenly from hemolytic uremic syndrome at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center in Chicago. Tom and Trici's son Rory was born one year later. In 1995, a second son, Sean was born.
On New Year's Day 1999, nine years after Erin's death, following a 52-hour hospital stay, Tom's wife Trici died suddenly at Oak Park Hospital in Oak Park, Illinois. A few days after her death, Tom learned that his wife died from a hereditary protein C deficiency. Tom's sons were 3 and 7.
Five years later, the night after his second day of 7th grade, Tom's 13-year-old son Rory had a seizure. The next two months were filled with doctor visits, medical tests, and hospital stays in both Rockford and Chicago where Rory's condition was misdiagnosed over and over again. In early November 2004, a biopsy which ended with the removal of Rory's left temporal lobe resulted in a diagnosis of glioblastoma multiforme, a terminal brain cancer. Deciding to forgo the customary chemotherapy and radiation, Tom and Rory travelled the country seeking alternative treatments. Rory died three months later on February 22, 2005 at OSF St. Anthony Medical Center in Rockford, Illinois.
Tom coaches clients one-on-one who are learning to live with the death of someone they love. He facilitates workshops and speaks at conferences and retreats throughout the country. He also works with social work, psychology, nursing, and medical students, as well as medical professionals, introducing them to a new way to do grief.
Shortly after his wife Trici died, Tom told his story on The Oprah Winfrey Show with best-selling author of The Seat of the Soul, Gary Zukav. Today, Tom and his son Sean are exploring life one day at a time in Rockford, Illinois.
To learn more please visit www.TomZuba.com. You can join Tom's Healing Circle at www.facebook.com/tomzuba1
