A guided grief journal written for the loss of a friend — for the grief that comes with no official role and no time off.
The short answer. Still With Me is a guided remembrance journal with 80 written prompts across 9 chapters in 120 pages, sized 6 × 9 inches, available in hardcover or paperback at $29.99. For the loss of a friend there is a dedicated Friend edition, with a neutral Loved One edition when the relationship does not have a simple name. Every copy is printed to order in the United States and ships within 3–5 business days.
A note before anything else
When a friend dies you are usually not the next of kin. You are not consulted about the funeral, you may hear about it second-hand, and you are expected back at work on Monday. That does not make the loss smaller — for many adults a close friend is the person they spoke to most in the world. Grief without a formal role has a name, disenfranchised grief, and its main feature is having nowhere to put it. A journal is one place. 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 edition to choose
| Edition | Choose it when |
|---|---|
| For the Loss of a Friend | The prompts say friend throughout — how you met, what you told each other that nobody else knew, the running jokes, the last ordinary conversation. |
| For the Loss of a Loved One | Neutral wording throughout — the right choice when the word friend undersells it, or for a colleague, a mentor, a neighbour or a chosen-family relationship. |
If you are buying for someone whose friend died, the friend edition does something a general sympathy gift cannot: it treats them as bereaved. That recognition is usually the part they are not getting anywhere else.
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 grieving friend
Most sympathy gifts go to the family. Almost nothing goes to the best friend, the group chat, the person who drove them to every appointment. A journal sent to them says their loss is real, and it asks nothing back — 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. Shipping is $6.49 within the US and Canada and $9.00 to the rest of the world.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best grief journal for the loss of a friend?
One written for that specific relationship rather than for grief in general. Still With Me publishes a dedicated friend edition with 80 prompts across 9 chapters in 120 pages, in hardcover or paperback.
Is it strange to grieve a friend this much?
No. Friendship is often the closest daily relationship an adult has, and it carries none of the formal recognition that a spouse or parent gets. Grief researchers call that mismatch disenfranchised grief; it is common, and it tends to last longer precisely because it is not acknowledged.
Is a journal a good gift for someone whose friend died?
Often yes, and it is one of the few gifts aimed at them rather than at the family. It can sit unopened until they are ready, and it still makes sense months after the funeral when other support has stopped.
What if the friendship had ended before they died?
The prompts do not assume the friendship was current or uncomplicated. The chapters on the hard parts and the things left unsaid, and the open letter pages, are written for exactly that.
How long does it take to arrive?
Every copy is printed to order in the United States and ships within 3–5 business days. Shipping is $6.49 to the US and Canada and $9.00 to the rest of the world.
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.
See all twenty editions on the shop editions page, or find the right one on who it is for.