An author talk in D.C. this weekend will feature a former journalist sharing tips on how to navigate grief after she went through an unimaginable tragedy.
“I did not write the book for myself. I wrote the book for other people,” said Michelle Hord, a former journalist who started her career as a reporter in D.C. with America’s Most Wanted.
She said she suddenly found herself at the center of every parent’s nightmare when her seven-year-old daughter was killed.
“Fast-forward some 30 years later almost, and I’m on the other side of that police tape, when my daughter was murdered by my then-husband while we were going through our divorce,” Hord said. “This is not just a personal journey, but also a way, based on my professional experience, to really look at grief.”
Hord is giving a talk about her book, titled “The Other Side of Yet: Finding Light in the Midst of Darkness,” at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library in D.C. The event is Saturday at 3 p.m.
“What happens with grief, especially profound grief of a loved one, is that we somehow learn to expand our hearts in our lives to include it. … It is a lifelong journey,” she said.
Hord added trying to pace yourself is crucial: “The most important thing is to take it one breath, one step at a time.”
The book, which was originally published in March 2022, is the winner of the 2023 Memoir Prize for Books from Memoir Magazine and the Christopher Award.
Hord said she hopes she’s able to help others going through difficult times in their lives.
“What the book hopes to do is to take readers on a journey from those before moments, and have the ability to pivot to a yet,” she said. “The ability to be vulnerable and ask for help is incredibly important.”
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