If you’ve been human for any amount of time, then you’ve experienced loss. We lose relationships, jobs, money, health, homes, dreams—and most heartbreakingly, people we love. Despite loss being one of the most universal parts of the human condition, we often feel blindsided by it. Few of us were taught how to grieve well, or even that grief applies to anything beyond death. If you've ever sat in the wreckage of something you didn't want to lose and thought, “This isn’t what I hoped for,” you’re not alone.

As a social psychologist, my work focuses on the deepest kind of loss: death. For over a decade, I’ve studied how people facing terminal illnesses—cancer, dementia, heart failure—prepare themselves and their families for the end of life. I’ve had the humbling privilege of walking beside patients and loved ones in their final months, weeks, and days. And through them, I’ve learned more about life than any textbook or peer-reviewed article could ever teach.

What astounds me is not just the courage of people facing death, but their capacity to live fully—even thrive—in their “new normal.” I’ve seen patients rediscover joy, love more deeply, and savor moments with........

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