Generations of Grief: Embracing Change Through Loss
A Memoir, Workbook, and Journal
by Tammy Cortez
Generations of Grief: Embracing Change Through Loss
A Memoir, Workbook, and Journal
by Tammy Cortez
"Alzheimer's is a thief. It robs you of bits and pieces of the one you love. With each loss comes moments of grief. Tammy’s book gives us permission to look into the mirror, see the grief, name it, and understand that this is all part of being on the other side of dementia."
Myrna Marofsky, Author, "To The Last Dance"
"Tammy masterfully weaves a poignant narrative that transcends the individual experience of loss and delves deeply into how grief ripples through an entire family."
Margo LaBerge, Author of "Living Life with Gusto"
"Tammy Cortez gives voice to the often invisible grief experienced by caregivers. 'Generations of Grief' is an honest, tender reflection on what it means to love someone through loss, and how we begin to carry both memory and healing."
Christina Rasmussen, bestselling author of "Invisible Loss"
More About the Book
From the Author - When people ask me why...
I chose to write Generations of Grief, my answer isn’t simple. For a long time after my dad’s passing, I was at a loss. I couldn’t concentrate, couldn’t find peace, and couldn’t connect with anything on the grief shelves at bookstores. Every title I picked up seemed distant or clinical. Nothing mirrored the raw, confusing, overwhelming emotions I was living through. One day, I went back to my journal—the words I had poured out in the hardest days right after losing him. Reading those entries was painful, but it also sparked something inside me. Writing had been the only thing that brought me even a small measure of release, and I realized maybe, just maybe, my words could help one other person who was feeling the same kind of loneliness I felt. That’s when I decided: I would keep writing.
But this wasn’t only my story. From the very beginning, I knew I wanted to include the impact this loss had on my mom. When she learned what I was doing, she didn’t hesitate—she offered me her journals, her most private and unfiltered words. That act of trust and vulnerability touched me more than I can describe. I had always seen her as strong, but reading her raw emotions showed me a deeper kind of strength—the kind that emerges when the rest of us left and she was alone with her grief. Her courage allowed me to understand grief on another level, one I could never have written about without her voice woven into these pages.
Writing this book was never about having all the answers. It was about honesty—about capturing the full scope of what grief feels like when you’re living inside it. There are moments of sorrow so deep you wonder how you’ll ever stand again. There are days when tears come in waves that seem endless. And yet, over time, there are also moments when the sorrow begins to shift. Slowly, painfully, it transforms into something else—a remembering of all the things you loved about the person you lost. A smile at a memory. A laugh at something they would have said. A warmth that begins to take the place of the sharpest pain.
My hope is not that this book tells you how to grieve. Each journey is unique, and no two losses feel the same. Instead, I hope these pages bring you comfort in knowing you’re not alone, and that the exercises, prompts, and journaling spaces give you a way to process your own story in your own time. You may set it down and pick it back up many times. That’s not just OK—it’s part of the journey. Healing isn’t linear, and neither is this book. It’s meant to meet you wherever you are.
If you are in the depths of sorrow, I hope my words and my mom’s courage remind you that you don’t have to carry grief silently. If you are ready to reflect, I hope the prompts and exercises help you capture memories you’ll hold close forever. And if you are somewhere in between, I hope this book simply sits beside you, as a companion on days when you need it most.
This is not just a book about grief. It’s a book about love, memory, resilience, and the way our connections endure even after loss. My greatest hope is that when you turn the last page, you feel a little less alone and a little more open to the possibility that, even through grief, love will always remain.
With love,
Tammy
