“I read your book on the plane. I cried and laughed. I could feel the love for your family jumping off the pages. I think you are brave and wise. You started your new phase in life with grace and courage.”

“Harriet Vogel was the facilitator at a bereavement group that I joined after my husband passed away; she was also my grief counselor for a number of years after the group ended. The journey of healing after losing your soul mate is a very long, painful and difficult one. Grief counseling, for me, was the most important step I could have taken. It gave me a very safe and secure place to talk...cry...remember...and never to be judged in any way. I remember Harriet asking me at the start, what I wanted to achieve with counseling; I didn’t know at the time, but by the end of that first talk I did- “I knew I had to go through the journey, but I didn’t want to go through it alone.” I credit Harriet Vogel for saving my life. She held me up at a time I couldn’t stand on my own and showed me a direction of healing. I could not have done it without her. She will always be in my heart and prayers. Thank you HARRIET for helping me find my life again.”

“Yesterday I finished your book. At first I had trouble reading about someone else’s grief journey, especially in the agonizing early aftermath of the death; then I literally could not put your book down, stayed up late to finish it, cried my eyes out, learned so much from your gentle unassuming wisdom… I loved traveling with you on this journey as you shared it, first with Jerry and now with the world.”

“When I began bereavement counseling with Harriet Vogel, I never could have imagined the journey we were about to embark on together. I was overwhelmed by the helplessness and fear of being the caregiver for a terminally ill person, my father’s eventual death, and how intense the pain of losing him was. My hope for simply a safe place to talk about my grief turned into so much more. I had no idea that I would share with her other losses from my past, though not necessarily losses through death, and learn to grieve for them as well. Harriet creates such a safe space for clients to share whatever is on their minds and in their hearts and I found myself unburdening myself of years of loss, anger, grief, and fear that I had never spoken of before. For the first time in my life, I was no longer alone in my pain. Harriet’s incredible compassion, wisdom, and insight helped me begin to sift through all those feelings and emotions and realize that they – and I – were totally ‘normal’. She was the first person I ever felt safe sharing my soul with and she took her role as my confidant very seriously, always responding with incredible patience, encouragement, empathy and validation. Her questions and insights gave me varied ways to look at things and I often left her office with a different perspective or something powerful to think about. She reminded me of my own strength and courage during some of my hardest moments and kept believing in me as I learned to believe in myself. Working with Harriet brought me to a level of awareness and healing I hadn’t thought possible. She helped me find my emotional wings and learn to soar! No words could express the depth of my gratitude towards her or her amazing gift of compassion and support. ”