A guided grief journal written to help you process the loss of a sibling, with separate editions for a brother and for a sister.
The short answer. Still With Me is a guided grief journal that helps you process the loss of a sibling 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 sibling there are two named editions: Brother and Sister, with a neutral Loved One edition when neither word fits. 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
Bereaved siblings are often called the forgotten mourners. Condolences go to the parents, to the widow, to the children, and the brother or sister is asked how they are holding up. You lost the person who remembered your childhood from the inside, and there is usually no formal place for that grief to go. A journal is not a fix for it. It is a way to work through the things nobody is asking you about, one question at a time, and to keep what only you remember. 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 sibling loss edition to choose
| Edition | Choose it when |
|---|---|
| For the Loss of a Brother | The prompts say brother throughout: what he called you, what you fought about, what he knew about you that nobody else did. |
| For the Loss of a Sister | The prompts say sister throughout. |
| For the Loss of a Loved One | Neutral wording throughout: the right choice for a step-sibling, a foster or chosen sibling, or a sibling-in-law, where brother and sister do not say it properly. |
If you are buying for someone who lost a sibling, the named edition is almost always the better gift. It also does something quietly useful: it treats them as the bereaved person rather than as the one supporting their parents.
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 someone who lost a brother or sister
Most sympathy gifts arrive in the first two weeks and stop, and most of them go to the parents. A journal addressed to the sibling says plainly that their loss counts too. 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 brother or sister, a memorial keepsake, a remembrance book, a bereavement gift for the loss of a sibling. What it is, plainly, is a guided book of eighty questions to write to their brother or sister 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 sibling?
One written for that specific relationship rather than for grief in general. Still With Me publishes a separate brother edition and sister edition, each with 80 prompts across 9 chapters in 120 pages, in hardcover or paperback.
Is there a general sibling edition?
Not as a separate title. The named brother and sister editions cover most cases, and the neutral Loved One edition is the right one for a step-sibling, a chosen sibling or a sibling-in-law where those words do not fit.
Is a journal a good gift for someone who lost a brother or sister?
Often yes, and it is one of the few gifts that still makes sense in month six. Bereaved siblings are routinely overlooked in favour of parents and spouses, so a gift addressed to them directly tends to land harder than its price suggests.
What if we were estranged when they died?
The prompts do not assume a close or uncomplicated relationship. Several chapters (the hard parts, the things left unsaid, letters to you) are written for exactly that, and nothing has to be answered in order or at all.
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. 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 someone who lost a brother or sister?
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 sibling 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 of the two of them, a meal delivered later rather than sooner, and a card that uses their sibling's name.
See all twenty editions on the shop editions page, or find the right one on who it is for.