History 21 The Podcast - 1.09 Gina Overacker
On the first day of 2021 Terry Overacker died after over a month in the hospital battling Covid-19. In this episode, his wife and business partner, Gina, shares her deeply personal experience with this terrible disease, her grief after Terry’s death, and how sharing your story can bring healing.
Hosts Rebecca Desens, ACHS Executive Director, Sara Given, ACHS Volunteer Coordinator and Erin McBrien, ACHS Archivist.
Gina And Terry Overacker
Gina & Terry Overacker
History 21: The Vault Extras
Listen to Gina’s Full Interview
Gina and Terry Overacker with their family gathered close.
Gina sewing masks at home, March 2020.
Anoka County Library Minute
Further Reading:
The Aftergrief: Finding Your Way Along the Long Arc of Loss by Hope Edelman - 155.93 EDE
As anyone who has lost a loved one will tell you, grief has no time limit. And yet, often from societal pressures that tell us that it should, we often feel like there is a point after which we are supposed to be “over it.” Hope Edelman talks with those who have felt the sharp pang of recent loss, as well as psychiatrists and counselors, to help us re-evaluate the impact of grief and it’s affect on our lives.
Finding Meaning: The Sixth Stage of Grief by David Kessler - 155.937 KES
David Kessler is an expert on grieving, and actually co-authored On Grief and Grieving with Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, the woman who identified the steps of dying in the 1960s. In this book, Kessler posits that there is a stage beyond the classic five stages of grief that we all know – that of finding meaning, and closure that celebrates the life of the person lost. Kessler draws on his own experience with the loss of his son, as well as his work with those grieving.
The Only Way Out is Through: A Ten Step Journey from Grief to Wholeness by Gail Gross - 155.937 GRO
Another parent who lost a child, Gail Gross combines science and memoir in her book on grieving. Not just about living through grief, Gross’ book gives a roadmap for learning to live again on the other side of it.
When People Die by Jane Lacey - J155.937 LAC
Part of the “Dealing With” series, Jane Lacey’s book talks gently to children about what it means when someone dies. With colorful pages and straightforward but simple explanations, this book is a positive one for all ages of folks navigating loss for the first time.
Facing Death by Stephanie Finne - E155.937 FIN
This book for young readers teaches children how to identify grief, as well as how to navigate their own grief, and how to support others who are grieving. It uses social and emotional learning (SEL) concepts throughout the book, and has interactive prompts to help aid in understanding.
What Happens When My Parent Dies by Melissa Rae Shofner - E155.937 SHO
Losing a parent is heartbreaking no matter how old you are, but for children it can be particularly devastating. This book discusses some of the changes that could take place in a child’s life after losing a parent, as well as some of the emotions they may be feeling and how to talk about them.
Lost Companions: Reflections on the Death of Pets by J. Moussaieff Masson - 636.0887 MAS
Grief is not just present in the loss of humans. Those of us who have shared our homes with beloved pets know that their deaths are also devastating. While the loss of pets is sometimes dismissed as minor by those who did not love them, it absolutely takes an emotional toll, and Moussaieff Masson treats the topic with the gravity and tenderness it deserves in his book.
One aspect of grief not often discussed is anxiety. Anxiety can be significantly impacted by loss and grief, which can then dramatically affect the quality of life of its sufferers. Using cognitive behavioral therapy skills, Claire Bidwell Smith’s book teaches how for many grief and anxiety occur together.
Obit: Poems by Victoria Chang - 811.6 CHA
When Victoria Chang’s mother died, she responded by writing obituaries for all the small things that she had lost along with her mother. Her mother’s teeth, her mother’s blue dress, memory, and language are just some of the things memorialized in the book, whose poems show a woman working through her grief.
Men We Reaped: A Memoir by Jesmyn Ward - 305.38896 WAR
Two-time National Book Award Winner Jesmyn Ward lost five men in her life in the span of five years. They all met different ends, be it drugs, suicide, or simply bad luck from a life in poverty, but she keenly felt each loss. Ward’s book, named one of the Best Books of the Century by New York Magazine, looks at loss and grief and the often insurmountable struggles faced by Black men in the rural South.