The Judy Eichinger most people knew for many years was a confident, capable, sociable individual whom people liked, maybe even admired. On the outside she was personable, friendly, outgoing, but she kept her emotions to herself. She had friends, but didn’t let anyone get too close. Inside, however, she was hurting terribly from losing her beloved sister when she was 17 and her sister was 15.

Judy was successful professionally, married to a wonderful man, and had two wonderful children. But periodically, she suffered panic attacks, got deeply depressed, and felt very lonely. In many ways, she felt “stuck.”

Twenty years after her sister’s death, events forced her to confront her loss and begin to deal with it. She researched sibling loss in the local college library, got into individual and group counseling, took prescribed medication, attended a weekend sibling loss workshop, and participated in experiential workshops that helped her work through her grief, anger, and loss.

Judy Eichinger was two and a half when her beloved sister Ruth was born with one kidney shriveled and the other severely damaged.  She died at age fifteen. For many years, Judy couldn’t mention Ruth’s name or talk about her loss.  Events finally forced her to confront her feelings and work through her grief, anger, and loneliness.

This book movingly captures, moment to moment, that journey from a life of despair to one of fulfillment-in the hope of helping others who lost a sibling growing up.