Linda chose not to go to therapy. After losing her husband of 40 years to cancer, she decided to work through her pain by herself.

Knowing this, her friends gave her a stack of books about grief. But Linda says the booklet she received through Modern Woodmen’s Grief Assistance Program was what truly made a difference.

“It was such a comfort,” says Linda, a Modern Woodmen member in Augusta, Maine. “I realized I wasn’t crazy. What I was feeling was completely normal.”

Linda was the beneficiary of her husband’s Modern Woodmen life insurance certificate, and Modern Woodmen automatically mailed Linda the booklet soon after her husband, John, passed away. The booklet offered practical advice, encouragement and information about grief.

Linda liked the booklet’s succinct advice and relatable tone. It helped Linda become grateful for the time she had with her husband instead of focusing on her loss.

Linda remembers John as a determined man. Wounded in both legs when he served in Vietnam, John never complained. When he was diagnosed with a brain tumor, John held down his job at the Maine State Police until a few months before he passed away.

“Life with him made me who I am,” she says. “I’ll miss him the rest of my life, but I was blessed to have him when I did.”

Linda recommends the booklet to anyone working through grief. She urges people recovering from a loss to take the time to read it when it arrives in the mail.

“Grief is a work in progress,” Linda says. But through time and the comfort of the booklet, she’s starting to heal.

“Sometimes you feel like you’re walking alone through grief,” Linda says. “The book is something to help with that journey. I’m better for reading it. I’ll keep it for the rest of my life.”

Editor’s note: As a Modern Woodmen member, you gain many fraternal benefits beyond financial products. The Grief Assistance Program is just one example. Subject to change, fraternal member benefits are not part of the contract and may have specific eligibility requirements.