A Voyage Without My Father

Description

Walking with you through Grief to Growth to Gratitude

In my new book, a Voyage Without My Father, I am seeking to help people who have experienced the death or loss of a parent when they were young.

At the age of 10 I was not able to say goodbye to my Dad as at that time children were no allowed into hospital wards. A situation which in this age of Covid – 19 many have experienced and due to the pandemic have not been there to hold their relative’s hands as they passed.

My mission is to highlight the ways it can adversely affect our entire lives when left unprocessed and offer strategies for overcoming its debilitating grip. Written for men in particular, I relate my personal experience of growing up without the guiding hand of a loving parent. I explore the ways the trauma negatively impacted my life and relationships and share the mechanisms I’ve used to put this ever-present spectre to rest.

Why men in particular? Because men don’t talk about such things.

Here’s what Ian Claffey MA Psych and Award Winning International Executive Coach said:

“I hope that by reading Dexter’s story it will create clarity, offer consolation and help people realise that those sublimated feelings should be aired,” Men need to know that vulnerability is not a sign of weakness but a sign of strength. The pain we carry with us should be acknowledged. Doing so empowers us. It does not diminish us.” My father died of coronary thrombosis at a time when stents and statins had yet to be used. This tragic event that had a profound effect on me. The impact of which I still carry with me almost seven decades later.

“Dexter’s journey of discovery, which is told sometimes with humour, and at other times with poignancy, illustrates that he reached a point in his life where he needed to face his fears,” continued Ian Claffey MA Psych and Award Winning International Executive Coach.

“He enables us to realise that we are not alone, and it is OK to show our vulnerability. I hope his book will help others to find the courage to change.”

A Voyage Without My Father is for those who have lost and have struggled to come to terms with that loss. It is also for their partners, so they can better understand what their husband or wife is going through and help them to get through it. My book’s narrative style mirrors that of a disaster movie taking us not from chapter to chapter but from scene to scene. It is told over 7 decades and is not only a personal history but also illustrates social change and attitudes.

Firstly, it introduces us to the cast of characters, the family, a period of joy and light. We then experience the disaster itself, the of loss of the parent, and the impact is had on the lives of the family. Finally, to the denouement of the story, how they came through it, the lessons of life learnt, and the coping strategies adopted to overcome this devastating loss. A Voyage Without My Father is available for pre-order here:

Contact Dexter on dexter@dextermosow.co.uk Publishing date – 15th June 2021 – Just after Father’s Day