I Wasn't Ready to Say Goodbye Audiobook By Brook Noel, Pamela D. Blair Ph.D. cover art

I Wasn't Ready to Say Goodbye

Surviving, Coping, and Healing After the Sudden Death of a Loved One

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I Wasn't Ready to Say Goodbye

By: Brook Noel, Pamela D. Blair Ph.D.
Narrated by: Ellen Archer
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About this listen

Each year about eight million Americans suffer the death of someone close to them. Now, for those who face the challenges of sudden death, there is a hand to hold. Written by two women who have experienced sudden loss, this updated edition of the best-selling bereavement classic will touch, comfort, uplift and console. Authors Brook Noel and Pamela D. Blair, Ph.D., offer a comforting hand to hold for those who are grieving the sudden death of a loved one.

Featured on ABC World News, Friends, and many other shows, this book acts as a touchstone of sanity through difficult times. I Wasn't Ready to Say Goodbye covers such difficult topics as the first few weeks, suicide, death of a child, children and grief, funerals and rituals, physical effects, homicide and depression. With new material covering the unique circumstances of loss, men and women's grieving styles, religion and faith, myths and misunderstandings, I Wasn't Ready to Say Goodbye reflects the shifting face of grief.

This book has offered solace to over 80,000 people, ranging from seniors to teenagers and from the newly bereaved to those who lost a loved one years ago. Individuals engulfed by the immediate aftermath will find a special chapter covering the first few weeks.

Tapping their personal histories and drawing on numerous interviews, authors Brook Noel and Pamela D. Blair, Ph.D., explore unexpected death and its role in the cycle of life. I Wasn't Ready to Say Goodbye provides survivors with a rock-steady anchor from which to weather the storm of pain and begin to rebuild their lives.

©2000 Brook Noel and Pamela D. Blair, Ph.D. (P)2012 Tantor
Grief & Loss Personal Development Relationships Sociology Grief Inspiring

Critic reviews

"I highly recommend this book, not only to the bereaved, but to the friends and counselors as well." (Helen Fitzgerald, author of The Grieving Child)

Featured Article: Comforting Audiobooks About Grief and Loss That Actually Help


When it comes to the death of a loved one, there is no easy path forward. Grieving can place significant mental strain on those who are mourning. And because everyone grieves a little differently, it can be hard to know where to turn for help, or what to say to someone who is in the throes of grief. Audiobooks on grief can offer insight to those looking for ways to support the mourning, or a bit of comfort for anyone struggling with loss themselves.

What listeners say about I Wasn't Ready to Say Goodbye

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2 huge losses death is ugly. Thank you for this bk

Thank you! l felt a little better relating to events in this book esp after losing Kupa my nephew 26 year old on June 1st after a road accident. My best friend Essie (50) who has been my shoulder to cry on, was reported dead just exactly 30days after my nephew. l am broken and wanted to hear somebody explain how lam expected to cope after these 2 huge blows that shattered my heart in a million pieces . l listened and felt comforted l still have to practice all the coping mechanisms you outlined, hope this big lumb sitting right on my throat will clear. Thank you again!!! and so sorry for the loss to ya'all. 💔

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What are the chapter names

This book was very informative. However I would have liked to have the chapter names and not just the numbers so I could skip to whatever part I felt applies to me.

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Good resource for people who are grieving PERIOD!!!

Earlier, this year my husband of 45 years passed away in April, 2922, after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. Although not sudden, l found this book helpful in navigating through the most difficult year of my life. Thank you

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3 people found this helpful

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Very uplifting and supportive

I enjoyed listening to this book. It was very difficult for me because to listen all at once because i have recently lost my youngest son to suicide. I finally found something/ someone that understood everything i was going thru and feeling. I was able to understand why so many were “insensitive” to what i was going thru. This book has been very helpful to me during the most turbulent and darkest time of my life. The narrator depicts the warmth and tenderness the authors want to present to their readers. This is an essential tool for my healing journey. I highly recommend anyone who either has lost someone in a sudden death or knows someone who’s gone thru a sudden death to read this book. This book will help you be the encouraging supporter of someone who is grieving or the book can be a source of support if you’re the one grieving and don’t have a support system.

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Thank you...

I reasently lost my mother, it's been a pain I had never in my life felt before and couldn't deal on my on so I started taking therapy. My therapist suggested this book and I'm so glad I read it, it has been the best help to understand so many things and answer so many questions after losing her. I personally think that the book gave me more help than the therapist.

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6 people found this helpful

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POWERFUL BOOK AND SOOTHING NARRATION

“I wasn’t ready to say goodbye” was a powerful and important book and very needed. The Narrator: Ellen Archer's voice was so soft and soothing and compassionate and also understood our pain losing someone we love with no warning and no chance to say Goodbye. I would listen to all her narrations. The Authors did a truly wonderful job and I truly thank them. I recommend and look forward for other books by the Authors: Brooke Noel and Pamela D. Blair PHD. It was a great audio book with a great Narrator whom I would recommend again and again. Thank you…

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Great start to understanding your personal grief..

I was given several books after losing a child and took months to touch any of them. Months into the grieving process while on a cross-country road trip, I chose to listen to this one. The stories and situations are relatable and intimate, and a glimmer of hope soon appears on the horizon--even the tiniest ray of light can help get you moving in a forward direction.

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great book

my friend lost his mother tragically and was having a rough time coping. i looked up several books that might help him see he wasn't alone. If he could hear of others with similar situations, maybe it will rest his heart a little. I purchased the audio version because I wasn't sure if he was a book reader. He immediately started listening to the book and finished it quickly. He called me, telling me he couldn't stop listening. The book was exactly what he was feeling and thinking. He felt more at peace and knew he wasn't alone in his grief. He couldn't thank me enough for finding this book.

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HIGHLY RECOMMEND

This book and its contributors provide support, guidance and understanding in ways you don't have the ability to even know you need during dark times. I sought this book out after the recent death on Christmas Eve 2023 of my 24 year old son.Having experienced the loss of multiple family members in my lifetime I thought I had the strength to weather anything life might throw my way. How could you conceive of such a life altering event. I no longer recognize myself, my actions or my thoughts. The shared experiences and honesty in this book has provided me encouragement and validation, nice to know, I'm not going crazy,yet.

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Chapter numbers are off by one

Chapter two is all about how confused you will be in the first few weeks, yet it is labeled as chapter three, which was very confusing. Maybe what is labeled as chapter 1 is really the preface?

Beyond that glitch, it was great reading a book about sudden death because everything I had read was focused on decline in health and preparing for death. We had no time to prepare.

In chapter 2 they talk about not making any decisions during their the first few weeks but we did not have that option. There was no will and the autopsy delayed the death certificate so it was very hard to get anything done.

There is so much to do that I haven’t had any time to do any of the things that are suggested. We had to fly across the country, liquidate his business property, meet with lawyers, go through, divide, and move all of his personal belongings, deal with whether to have a viewing or not, schedule and pay for the cremation, and negotiate a trust that passed down.

One month has passed and we still are waiting for the cause of death and death certificate. However, when talking to a friend I realized that I was getting caught up in the idea that this is not how the grieving process is supposed to go. How I thought it was supposed to be disappeared as fast as he did. That makes having a book about sudden death even more helpful.

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