How Stories Can Help Children Grieve With Award Winning Author Dr. Jerry Woodbridge

We sit down with Dr. Jerry Woodbridge, an award-winning educator and author, to talk about writing honest children’s books that guide kids through grief instead of skipping past it. We dig into twin loss, survivor’s guilt, faith questions, and the real-life tools that help children and adults carry love forward after death. 
• her journey from widowhood to writing as a form of healing 
• why children’s literature often avoids the full grief journey 
• Joy Overcame Sorrow and what a first year of mourning can look like for a child 
• The Intersection and the many meanings behind one traumatic moment 
• survivor’s guilt, family conflict, and how different grief styles collide at home 
• the difference between sympathy and empathy and how friends can learn it 
• why “I don’t know what to say” can be the most supportive sentence 
• holding joy and sorrow at once and how love connects them 
• anticipatory grief, caregiving stress, and writing through real loss 
• journaling prompts, memory boxes, and rituals that help kids remember without shutting down 
Go to DrJerryWoodbridge.com. If you put in your email, then you can get updates on what's available and what's out there.

Transcript

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Podcast Mission And Promise

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to What Worth Sabrina Say. I'm Sabrina Dawn, and I'm excited you're joining me today. In this podcast, I dive into mental health topics, topics on relationships and overall well-being. With over 20 years of experience as a licensed clinical social worker, I share insights and invite expert guests who are passionate about making a positive difference. I started this podcast because I was frustrated with the often misleading or recycled information and social media involving self-help and the mental health field. My goal is to provide you with genuine, useful content that's educational and informative. Thanks for tuning in. I hope you find our conversations both enlightening and empowering. I'm glad you're here.

Meet Dr. Jerry Woodbridge

SPEAKER_00 0:44

Welcome to What Would Sabrina Say?

SPEAKER_01 0:46

I'm your host, Sabrina Jong, licensed clinical social worker. I'm excited to have with me today Dr. Jerry Woodbridge. She's an award-winning author, educator in over 40 years, and a speaker. Thanks so much, Dr. Woodbridge, for coming out today to talk about your new book that's just been released called Intersection. I'm just wondering if you could share a bit about your journey, your journey in education, what led you here, and sharing about your your new book. Hey,

Widowhood, Support, And Writing Begins

SPEAKER_01 1:12

wonderful.

SPEAKER_02 1:12

Thank you, Sabrina, for the opportunity. Yes, I've been an educator for over 40 years. And back in 2004, my family lost my husband and my children's father during that time. And so I found some support through a widow's grief fellowship. I also started ballroom dancing, you know, because that helped me form new social connections. Because when you've been married over 18 years, you just have a lot of couple friends. So as a result of that and being inspired to journal and write down all my thoughts, I started doing some writing from a widow's perspective. In 2019, I was challenged to write a children's book on grief because I had been an educator and I had worked with some of my students who had lost a loved one. For example, a fifth grade boy had lost his dad, and his dad, he was very involved in the rodeo. So the young man was definitely going to emulate his father and be involved in those kind of activities. But I think it was also part of his connection still to his father. And I could still see, even after two years of losing his dad to cancer, that he was still grieving. So when I mentioned that, they said, You should write a children's book. And I'm like, Okay, that wasn't what I came for, but uh that idea just kept kept wrestling with that idea. So and that was four and a half years. I didn't know what I didn't know about writing fiction. And when it all came together and it was time to seek a kind of a hybrid publisher, all the pieces came together and I was writing from Joy's point of view.

Building A Child’s Grief Story

SPEAKER_02 2:56

So that was the first book. Joy Overcame Sorrow. She lost her dad when she was 10 years old to a car accident. And so it was a sudden death. And when I was exploring other books in the children's fiction genre, I did not see any books that took a child from when they got the bad news all the way through their grief journey. So that is the inspiration behind that book. I was able to write from Joy's point of view that carried her through the first year. And even after the first year, she writes in her journal and she says, I know I'm not done grieving any more than I'm done loving my dad. But the sorrow is fading and I'm beginning to feel peace and joy and contentment again. So it was kind of like taking a child uh that might read this book and saying, Yes, bad things happen. It's not easy. It's a struggle, you know, if you have the right kinds of support through friends or family, and you know, even social workers or teachers or anybody that is available, children can navigate that grief and get on the other side and and have joy again.

SPEAKER_01 4:04

So your own experience as a teacher in terms of child development and where they're at and understanding grief and your own experience supporting children or students, and then your own grief process as well, being able to write this this story.

SPEAKER_02 4:18

Right. I had two children when my husband passed away. My daughter was 16. She'd always been a journaler. So, you know, there would be times I'd run things by her as well. And I think it kind of helped her a little bit. My son was 12, totally different grief experience, a little bit more on the rebellious, and he wanted control over his life. So, and he was having panic attacks. So those are things that I learned as a result of my children. I knew I was going to write a series. So the series is the Loved Lost One series. And because I figured, okay, this can help someone as a child, or help parents, or help grandparents, or, you know, anybody help this child get through their grief. There's a lot of different scenarios and situations and different kinds of loss that are out there. So I thought, well, okay. But I had a germ of an idea about 30 years ago when I was teaching in a Christian school. We had two twin boys that were in a grade level above the one I taught. And they were riding their bike. This took place in Jacksonville, Florida. And they were riding their bikes along the highway, and one of the twins was hit and died. Wow.

SPEAKER_01 5:29

That's so tragic.

SPEAKER_02 5:30

Yes. So, well, I mean, I'm not writing about the easy topics. I I don't tend to be the author that does all the warm, fuzzy, good-feeling children's books or whatever. So sometimes I feel a little out of place among children's authors. But I write about real topics and things that kids are gonna have to deal with. So

A Twin Loss At The Intersection

SPEAKER_02 5:50

I took that idea and I wrote the book called The Intersection. And the intersection is about two twin boys. They're riding their bikes, they're kind of racing each other. I mean, the oldest one is very competitive. So he's like, race you to the Wawa, Colton. You know, so they're gonna go to the Wawa convenience store and they have to cross an intersection. Well, rather than waiting for the light to say it's safe to cross, Cade, the oldest one, thought, I see a gap. I bet you I could get there before my brother, because his brother was just a little bit behind him. And he went through. There was a driver sitting in the left turn lane and he was looking at his phone. Then he looked up, saw the green light, pushed on the gas pedal, and there was collision. So I'm writing a boy book because I feel like it's just as important to write from boys' perspectives, even though it's a little bit more challenging for me to write. And so we discover that even though the intersection is a place in this book where the accident occurs, intersection has a lot of different meanings. So

What “Intersection” Can Mean

SPEAKER_02 7:00

far, you know, I've come up with 15 different types of intersection because, you know, the boys are 12, and then during the book, they have a, you know, Colton has a 13th birthday. So you have the intersection between childhood and adolescence, which is good because I kind of wanted a book that would carry over into the young adult area. And then you have it from survivor's guilt. You know, Colton sees all this happening to his brother, and he feels guilty because mom always said we've got it that they always had to take care of each other, and he didn't do a very good job. That's what he's thinking in his head. So then you have the family relationships that there's an intersection because everybody in the family grieves differently. So Colton is grieving not only his brother, but his twin. They had a they had a secret language when they were younger. They knew what each other was thinking. And even though Colton was quieter, and how his brother would describe him is he always walked like he was carrying a backpack of bricks on his back. And Cade was always the adventurous one, the one everybody loved, the one everybody talked to. But they were always together. So he's got to figure out well, how how do I, how do I continue being me when I'm so used to being um a pair? So it's like the mother, of course, wants to remember Cade and also wants to be there for Colton, but there's conflict between her and her husband because her husband is looking at the survivor, Colton, and thinking mom's making it more difficult for Colton to grieve and to survive. So you still have those kind of things.

Survivor Guilt And Family Friction

SPEAKER_02 8:46

Like I said, it's perfectly fine. Everybody in the family grieves differently. And of course, the driver that hit paid ran off. I mean, he just took off. So there's no resolution there as to having that driver be accountable and responsible for the impact of what they did to their family. So they still have that going the same time. So this is also a time where young people really find out who their friends are, the ones they can count on to be empathetic, to be with them, to help encourage them through this process. So even if a child reads Joy Overcame Sorrow or the Intersection, they can develop some empathy by reading their experiences so that they can say the right thing or the better thing so that they can be a better friend. So in Joy Overcame Sorrow, there was a her best friend, Bella, and they'd been best friends since they were like three years old. But Bella knew how to be sympathetic, but not necessarily empathetic, even though she was trying really hard. So Joyce takes Bella aside and explains to her what Joy actually needs. Same thing in the intersection. There are two characters, Ava and Marcus, that end up being the support system that Colton needs. You know, but he also has some trouble he starts to unravel in school emotionally and stuff. So his parents contact their pastor and get a counselor. So Dr. Wallace is now brought in to help Colton. So in the intersection, I bring that special relationship between the counselor and the pastor Olivia, female. Pastor Olivia finds Colton at the intersection in the rain at night. Because usually when someone is hit by a car, you'll see the white cross or you'll see teddy bears and balloons or whatever marking that area. And so Colton would run out, for example, he wanted to celebrate both their birthdays. And of course, there was the conflict between mom and dad. You know, what's the better way to do this? And so he he goes running, running out at night, climbs down the tree out of his bedroom window, and uh runs to the intersection because he's trying to talk to Kate. Like, what do I do now? kind of thing. And Pastor Olivia just happened to be passing by, and she grabs Colton and takes him to an awning of a store, and then they are talking. And what helps Colton is when Pastor Olivia says, I don't know what to say, because I lost my dad, and people would say all these other all these things, God's will, and blah, blah, blah, all that. And it just made me angry. So she goes, Sometimes we don't know what to say, what's going to work. And actually, that was kind of a relief for Colton that somebody like an adult could admit that they didn't know what to do in this situation.

Friends, Pastors, And Counselors

SPEAKER_02 11:49

But they were at least willing to be present.

SPEAKER_01 11:51

It sounds like in your story writing, you're uh really capturing how complex grief is, not just for children, but for adults and and people who are trying to support. Most people believe sorrow and joy can't exist together. Sounds suggest otherwise, right? Can you explain that, maybe what the characters are going through or in your own grief journey?

Holding Joy And Sorrow Together

SPEAKER_02 12:14

Yes, I I disagree with that. I I do think you can hold joy and sorrow at once. It is kind of like I have a coffee mug, and that's what it says. It says holding joy and sorrow at once. Because the coffee mug is a container, just like our heart is a container for our emotions, our thoughts and our emotions. So I think it's very appropriate to realize that why we have sorrow or grief and why we have joy, the common denominator is love. So because we love someone and they die, we're grieving, we have sorrow. But because we love someone, we get married, we have birthdays, we celebrate graduations, you know, we celebrate the birth of children. You know, it's the same kind of thing. And I think if I think of it like a bridge. If we had a bridge in the planks, all the planks going across the little stream or the river or whatever you imagine, the planks are love, but the two points or destinations might be sorrow or joy. And I think in our lifetime, we're constantly moving between sorrow and joy. Sometimes it's a disappointment or a loss of a job or loss of identity. I think we're constantly moving between those two areas.

SPEAKER_01 13:32

Were

Caregiving And Anticipatory Grief

SPEAKER_01 13:33

there moments while writing either book that challenged you emotionally or spiritually? Sounds like maybe trying to see how the characters would be experiencing the story at their age, but were there any other moments as well?

SPEAKER_02 13:45

I know when I was writing Joy Overcame Sorrow, I'm also a caregiver for my mom. So, and my mom has health issues, so I have a little bit of anticipatory grief whenever, you know, whenever things get serious and she's got to go to the hospital. So when I was finalizing, just putting the finishing touches on the book, I was grieving with the character as I'm writing, but I was also grieving because I'm a daughter and my mother is in the hospital, and I don't know if she's gonna make it. And my mom had been in the hospital like three times during that time period. So yeah, I was having a little difficulty because I I felt like I was grieving in real life and grieving in my imaginary life.

SPEAKER_01 14:27

So was the writing process helpful for your grief journey or anticipatory grief that you're experiencing as well?

SPEAKER_02 14:34

Yes. I've also w written a couple of devotionals about grief as well. And my grace notes for caregivers is kind of based on my mom, is 21 devotions for the road you didn't plan but chose anyway. I mean, when we graduate from college, we have all these dreams. We don't really think, oh, I'm gonna be taking care of my mom when you're 60. You know, by myself. So uh so yeah, I mean, it's you continue to learn lessons.

SPEAKER_01 15:01

So

Journaling Prompts Kids Can Use

SPEAKER_01 15:02

with the your first book, Joy Overcomes Sorrow, there was an accompanying journal. Could you talk about that? Sure.

SPEAKER_02 15:09

Now, because I'm a teacher and an educator and a journaler, I thought, okay, I can take questions from each chapter of the book of Joy Overcame Sorrow, and I can ask the children to answer the question according to Joy. For example, when Joy heard the bad news in chapter two, you know, what kind of emotions or things did Joy express during that time? They can write about, oh, she was crying and then she got quiet. They could write all about that, but then I turn it personal and I said, okay, how did you receive the bad news? What were you thinking? Or describe what emotions or phases of grief you went through after hearing the bad news. And then it talks about how did the family members react. Because, you know, I just think of children who may have family members who are more stoic and they may seem like they are accepting things and that they're kind of not really expressing a lot of emotions, and children may not think that they can. So having these kind of books where other people may respond or react differently tells the child it's okay.

SPEAKER_01 16:20

Right. And just my own experience as a child therapist and helping children grieve, they're not in it as much all the time either, just with their own development and capacity, right? So sometimes it may look like they're not grieving or they're repressing, but they just they can't be in those intense emotions all the time. Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 16:41

So I I've developed a a signature talk about how we as adults can uh can support or become safe places for grieving children. So we do talk about sometimes children withdraw, you know, like in in the book Joy Overcame Sorrow. Joy was not appreciative of the doorbell and the phone constantly ringing. You know, even though these were well-meaning adults that were bringing by casseroles or bringing condolence cards or telling her your dad was a wonderful man, she she wasn't in the mood for all that. She considered these people invaders. It's like, go away, you know, and so I wanted, you know, I wanted to show that that's okay, that she's feeling that way. Now in the

Rituals That Keep Memories Close

SPEAKER_02 17:26

intersection, I don't show the funeral. I kind of capitalize more at the end of after the year of Cage death, they have a memorial of life celebration because to me that captured the healing process. And like I said, I, you know, talked about intersection meaning a lot of different things. But I really liked how this ended when they all went back to the intersection. And even though all the things were gone, like the teddy bears and balloons and and even the cross was there, they could see the the mark that the car had hit, you know, one of the poles. So mom and dad and Colton went back there. And of course, they all have their moment of silence, or you're like Colton pulled out his Spider-Man figurine and put it down there by the by the pole. And it says, Mom and dad didn't say anything, but I feel their hands on my shoulders, warm and steady. We stay there for a long time. Cars rush past, lights street, rain and exhaust fill the air. Someone's bass bumps in the distance, the world is loud, but around us it's quiet, like we're inside something small and protected. When we turn to leave, I take a breath. For the first time in a year, it doesn't sting. At the van, I look back, the lights change, the cars keep moving, the city doesn't stop. It's not a grave anymore. It's just a place people pass through, and tomorrow we will too.

SPEAKER_01 18:55

So just helping readers still continuing to mourn right that process. I think a lot of times with the message from society is that life goes on, that we continue, right? Um the people maybe stop reaching out, the everybody goes back to work, and it's important to still find rituals, routines, ways to still connect and remember. And can you share what this uh central message is that this book captures?

SPEAKER_02 19:21

I guess overall, for the whole series, I want children to know that it's their love that makes them miss that person that they lost and that they can hold on to that love. They can hold on to those memories. I think that's in a sense eternal, you know, and I think that can help them deal with other things that they encounter later in life. What I found when I was sharing the first book on social media is I found that there were adults that reached out to me and said, I need to read that book because I lost my dad when I was eight years old. And what that told me is that we have a lot of adults in society that have unresolved grief. And so helping children navigate grief or at least understanding this emotion is normal, this behavior is normal, you know, but we're working through a process. You know, children are very worried about forgetting. So we have to find ways like memory boxes or memory suitcases. Like I have a friend who is a grandparent and she lost her husband and they had seven grandchildren. So she took her her husband's suitcase and then they would put in different items from their grandpa. They would write different stories about their grandpa so that they can remember, so that those grandchildren, as they're growing up and they come visit their grandma, they can always go to that suitcase to remember their grandpa. The intersection is the memory box. And Joy overcame sorrow is her cousin April, who gives her a red leather journal that she can write down all the things, good things that people are saying about her dad, you know, at the funeral. But then Joy turns and uses it for something else as well, you know, to record her memories.

SPEAKER_01 21:05

Right. So there's that saying I was thinking of I had taken the grief education training with David Kessler. Oh yeah. About how grief is is love, right? It's so big that you have nowhere to really put it. But you're sharing examples of how children can sort of put it somewhere or express it and share with family members. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 21:25

I mean, you know, the the student that I talked about, every time he's at the rodeo, do you think he's thinking about his dad? Probably.

SPEAKER_01 21:33

Would you also say there's a steamer message sort of interwoven in your books about faith, purpose, and relationships as well? Yes, yes, absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 21:42

Uh I do try to give hope. You know, I I realize that we have children from a lot of different faiths, but you know, and and I don't apologize for writing from from my beliefs as as a Christian. I do believe that children are curious. And they want to know about death, especially when something like this happens. They want to know about God. They want to know about heaven. I mean, they have all these questions. And, you know, and even if they're of a different faith, they will have those kind of questions that they will want to either ask their family or, you know, or their spiritual leaders. So I do think that is one that having a place called heaven does give us encouragement. That, you know, there was a chapter in Joy Overcame Sorrow where the the pastor is talking about heaven because he know the pastor knows that this is generally when everybody shows up. So he's going to talk about heaven and provide proof. So he's providing examples from the Old Testament about witnesses like Abraham and Hagar, you know, being witnesses that there is a God, that God talked to them, that God saved, saved both of their sons. So so there is that spiritual message. But then Joy writes in her journal, she goes, I know I I do believe there is a heaven. I just wish it weren't. I just wish I didn't have to wait to see my dad again until I got to heaven.

SPEAKER_01 23:09

What conversations do you hope that your series and books will start?

SPEAKER_02 23:13

Or from an educator point of view, I'd say sometimes uh grief work is more important than division work, you know, in a math lesson. You know, that educators need to be aware how grief looks, even if they've never experienced it themselves. You know, I want to add to children's literature so that there are books available for children to read and for loved ones to be able to purchase or access to help their own p children that are that are grieving. Because I remember as a parent, I was at my husband's funeral. It was open casket. My husband died of colon cancer. So it was an open casket. You know, they had everybody go through, you know, in in the funeral. And then we went kind of last. And then at that point, that's when the ushers closed the casket and my son started wailing. And it broke my heart right then and there. I was doing okay until then. But you know, but when he did, of course, the ushers took us out for a little bit so we can get our get ourselves a little bit better together. But that just showed my son, this is permanent. I'm not gonna see my dad again. And and without faith, you know, there's no hope that he would see his dad again.

SPEAKER_01 24:28

So yes, and and you know, what I've learned in in being a therapist is the importance of involving children in the grief process, in funerals. It sounds like in your book you've had the characters also be involved in the the process as well.

SPEAKER_02 24:44

Yes. What Colton decided to do, he made they took an area of their yard. In Florida, when you have these big oak trees, there uh there's not a lot of grass that grows around those oak trees. So they took that area in their backyard and they made a rock garden. And Colton did some painting. Mom did some painting of some rocks of things, you know, interest that that Cade had. And so they they basically built a rock garden. And then every member that came for the celebration of life brought something to to celebrate Cade. And they just added it to the rock garden. Colton decided his contribution was he would get a big box of these helium-filled, colorful balloons and little index cards and strings. I mean, to to be able to tie notes on, and then they would let the balloons go up. So these might be stories or thing messages they'd like to send to Cade, and then they all watched the balloons. And he basically said that's because Cade always wanted to fly. So that was how that chapter ended, and just before the intimate family, mom, dad, and Colton went to the intersection.

SPEAKER_01 25:59

Was there anything that surprised you while writing these books for yourself the most?

Future Books On Harder Losses

SPEAKER_02 26:06

Well, I I feel like it's giving me a new calling because I really see until I started writing the first book, I didn't realize that there weren't very many books out there that even they might have mentioned death, like I am thinking The Bridge to Terabethia, where you know the boy had a had a friend and that friend ended up dying. But it doesn't really talk about the grief journey in a narrative form where children can really digest and and experience it.

SPEAKER_01 26:36

Right. So you noticed uh that there was a gap or it was missing in in children's literature to normalize grief and and loss for for people who do lose a loved one or or parent at a young age.

SPEAKER_02 26:50

Exactly. And so when you think about it, okay, yes, I've talked about parent loss, I've talked about sibling and twin loss. I'm gonna write about a military loss. And even though it is a father, I have the I've been interviewing the mom and two of the older children out of the four. And this person was he was a 911 firefighter, so there's a lot of toxic exposure with all of that in New York. And then he decided, well, he would do something safer, he would join the Navy. So he joined the Navy and for he was in the Navy for 22 years, and he ended up dying due to chemical exposure and his orbins shut down. So now we've got a health issue that the children are dealing with, and and I'm talking to them and they're like, we didn't realize that he was sick enough to die. I mean, and even the mom's going, I didn't either. There was just they weren't, I mean, they knew he was sick, but they weren't prepared for his death. Right. And so you could think about people who die from crime and how do the children deal with that. Well, that's another aspect of grief that's a little bit more complex. So so far, the the sudden, the sudden deaths or whatever I've written about, the even with his military family, it was really kind of a sudden thing. They were heading to Arizona to to, you know, he had just gotten a medical leave retirement, you know, and they were gonna start, you know, start living in Arkansas. And they were leaving from uh San Diego, California, and three hours in she has to call life like because he collapsed and he died.

SPEAKER_01 28:31

Yeah, so there's I'm sure an interviewing can be also hard to hear people's experiences and stories. Well, I want to honor them.

SPEAKER_02 28:40

I want to, you know, I mean, I explain I I have to write it as a fiction because while I'm interviewing, I'm getting ideas and settings and personalities and things like that from them. But I have to have it where you have the event that occurs, the death or whatever, but then where do you go after? So that's right now I have to write an ending before there's really an ending for that family. And so there's an 11-year-old boy and an eight-year-old girl. Eight-year-old girl, she's her concern is safety and security because her dad's gone. His his concern, the boy's concern is he lost his best friend. You know, so he lost his role model. So they're both dealing with what they lost based on their relationship with the one they loved.

SPEAKER_01 29:28

What kind of conversations do you hope that your new book, The Intersection, will start?

SPEAKER_02 29:35

Well, this is an interesting uh little statistic. There was a company that did a little commercial about joy overcame sorrow, and then they shared statistics with me. Do you know there were more men that were paying attention to that video than women?

SPEAKER_01 29:53

That's what I was going to ask or sort of leading into that it might be a great book to to help men grieve.

SPEAKER_02 30:01

Yes. And I've talked to some other men that are in the publishing industry. They might be trying to market books or or do different things with websites or whatever. And to hear their story, they're like, yeah, wow. You know, what what these books are are doing are doing are going to help a lot of people if we can get the books out there. Because they said I have the credibility, I have the life experience, I've won awards, I've won awards for Joy Overcame Sorrow, four of those, and two already for the intersection. And the intersection is due to be released July 28th. Now, I pre-ordered and I got my Amazon pre-ordered today. And I ordered from Ingram Sparks so that I could have access to 40,000 bookstores. I really hope it's going to do a lot. And I think the third book is going to do a lot because I believe my title is going to be When Heroes Go Home and the Kids Who Who Captive Stories, because that's they've been sharing their memories with me.

SPEAKER_01 31:01

So they're sharing their memories with you and you're you're capturing this in your next upcoming book.

SPEAKER_02 31:10

Right. So I'm very excited about this project. Actually, if I weren't trying to promote intersection right now, I'd be knee deep into writing the next book. But I know it's going to happen, it's going to come, and it's going to be the third book in the series. And and then we'll see. Because I know other topics people have brought up is topics like suicide. You know, how how how can you help people who are the surviving family members of suicide? Right now I don't know, but that may be a topic I I try to address in the future. I don't claim to know everything about every kind of experience, but I just want kids to have books out there that they can read and, you know, and learn a little bit about grief, become more empathetic for people who do lose loved ones, and just continue the conversations.

SPEAKER_01 32:01

And is it around different age groups for the characters or is it Joy was 10. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 32:08

Colton was 12, going on 13. I think the more complex topics, like this next book, we've got Camden, and they actually wanted me to use their name, so I'm not doing anything I shouldn't do. And mom's okay with it too. Camden's 11. Probably by the time I finish, he'll be in that 12, 12, almost 13 range. And Charlotte is eight. But some of the more complex topics, I think, like suicide or crime or other things, would probably be more in the younger adult section.

SPEAKER_01 32:39

And Dr. Woodbridge, I was wondering where people can purchase your books online or how they can reach you or access your your website or information if they're interested in learning more.

SPEAKER_02 32:52

Absolutely.

Where To Find Her Work

SPEAKER_02 32:53

Go to Dr D-R Jerry J-E-R-R-Y-L Woodbridge.com. That's my website. So if you put in your email, then you can get updates on what's available and what's out there. Eventually I will have a store in that website. Right now it's going to link you probably to Amazon to be able to get the books. I also have some book trailers that are available for Joy Overcame Sorrow and the Intersection so that people can get kind of an overview of what the book is about. And then there are some additional articles and resources and podcasts that I've done. There's a blog that's affiliated with my website. And then there's also one on Substack. So if they look up Gerielle Woodbridge, they'll probably find that. I'm on all social media, Instagram to Facebook, to Pinterest, to X. So occasionally and LinkedIn. Great.

SPEAKER_01 33:54

Well, thank you so much for your time today, Dr. Woodbridge, and learning about your resources and helping children and even adults grieve in and sharing your own journey and and other people's journeys and stories as well.

SPEAKER_02 34:08

Thank you. I appreciate the opportunity to share. And I'd love to work with some grief organizations that are out there if if they want to contact me.

SPEAKER_01 34:17

Yeah, that would be great. It's a great way, I think, for many people to access your your books and resources to help. I'll be sure to post your links as well too on the podcast page. I appreciate that.

SPEAKER_02 34:29

And I'm going to start speaking as well. So if anybody would like me to come, I would love to love to be there and share the message. Thank you so much. All right. Thank you.