A guided grief journal written to help you process the loss of a child, with separate editions for a son, a daughter, and for a child in general.
The short answer. Still With Me is a guided grief journal that helps you process the loss of a child by writing through it, with 80 written prompts across 9 chapters in 120 pages, sized 6 × 9 inches, in paperback at $29.99 or hardcover at $39.99. For the loss of a child there are three editions: Son, Daughter, and a general Child edition. Every copy is printed to order at a local facility in your region and arrives 7 to 12 business days after you order.
A note before anything else
Losing a child is the loss most people never expect to survive. Nothing on this page suggests that writing makes it smaller. A journal is a place to put the things you cannot say out loud yet, and a way to work through them one question at a time, with no schedule and nothing that has to be finished. If today is unbearable, please look at our help page; in the US, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline can be called or texted at any hour.
Which child loss edition to choose
| Edition | Choose it when |
|---|---|
| For the Loss of a Son | The prompts say son throughout, and use his name back to you rather than the word “child”. Read more about this grief journal for the loss of a son. |
| For the Loss of a Daughter | The prompts say daughter throughout. Read more about this grief journal for the loss of a daughter. |
| For the Loss of a Child | You are buying as a sympathy gift and do not know, or the neutral wording is what you want. |
If you are buying for a bereaved parent and you know the child's name, the named edition is almost always the better gift. Seeing son or daughter on the page matters more than it sounds like it would.
What is inside
The same nine chapters run through every edition, written to be worked through slowly rather than finished:
- Who you were: their character, their habits, their voice
- Our beginning: the earliest things you remember
- Everyday moments: the small ordinary things that go first
- What you taught me: what you carry from them now
- The hard parts: the last months, the things left unsaid
- What I miss: named plainly, without tidying it up
- Letters to you: open pages for writing directly to them
- Carrying you forward: rituals, dates, what stays
- Still with me: where you are now
Every prompt is a question with room to answer, not a blank page, and nothing has to be answered in order. The full specification and a comparison with a blank notebook is on the guided journal vs blank notebook page.
Try the prompts before you buy anything
There is no need to buy a journal to start writing. We publish free prompt sets for this loss, with a printable PDF at no cost:
If you want the reasoning behind the practice first, read our gentle guide to grief journaling and what research says about writing through loss.
Giving it to a bereaved parent
Most sympathy gifts arrive in the first two weeks and stop. A journal is one of the few that still makes sense in month six, and it asks nothing of the person who receives it: no reply, no thank-you note, no using it. Our sympathy gift guide covers what to write in the card, and the gift sets page pairs a journal with a memorial candle. Journals ship for a flat $6.49 within the US, $8.49 to Canada, $8.75 to $13.45 within the EU depending on the order, and $9.00 to the rest of the world; gift sets that include a candle ship separately, from $7.99.
People look for this in different words: a sympathy gift for someone who lost a son or daughter, a memorial keepsake, a remembrance book, a bereavement gift for the loss of a child. What it is, plainly, is a guided book of eighty questions to write to their child in, bound to be kept. Unlike flowers or a card it is not gone within the week, and unlike a blank notebook it does not ask the person to decide what to write on a day when deciding anything is hard.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best grief journal for the loss of a child?
One written for that specific relationship rather than for grief in general. Still With Me publishes a separate son edition, daughter edition and general child edition, each with 80 prompts across 9 chapters in 120 pages, in hardcover or paperback.
Should I buy the son or daughter edition, or the general child edition?
Buy the named edition when you know; the wording is specific throughout and reads as personal rather than generic. Choose the general child edition when you are giving it as a sympathy gift and are not sure.
Is a journal an appropriate gift for a bereaved parent?
It can be, particularly after the first weeks when other support falls away. It does not need to be responded to and can sit unopened until they are ready. If you are unsure, a card saying you are still thinking about their child by name is never wrong on its own.
Is it suitable after a miscarriage or infant loss?
The general child edition is the closest fit, and many of its prompts do apply, but it was written for a child who was known and remembered over time. Organisations specialising in pregnancy and infant loss offer material shaped much more precisely for that grief.
How long does it take to arrive?
Every copy is printed to order at a local facility in your region. Printing takes 3 to 5 business days, and most US orders arrive 7 to 12 business days after you order. Shipping is a flat $6.49 to the US and $8.49 to Canada on every journal, $8.75 to $13.45 within the EU depending on the order, and $9.00 to most other countries, and the exact rate for your address shows at checkout.
Is journaling a substitute for grief support?
No. Writing can give grief somewhere to rest, but it is a personal practice, not a treatment, and after the loss of a child, support from people who understand it matters more than any book. Our help page lists places to turn. In the US, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline can be called or texted at any hour.
What is a good sympathy gift for a parent who lost a child?
Something that still makes sense after the first two weeks, when the flowers and cards have stopped. A guided journal written for the loss of a child is one option: eighty questions about them, bound as a keepsake, that the person can open when they are ready and put down when they are not. Other gifts that hold up over time are a framed photograph, something with the child's name on it, and a note that says the name out loud when everyone else has stopped.
See all twenty editions on the shop editions page, or find the right one on who it is for.