I joined the Dead Dads Club in 2023, and grief gutted me.

It hollowed me out in ways I never imagined possible.

Before my dad died, he made me promise him one thing: never stop writing. Keep telling stories. Share ours.

At first, I had no idea how.

I didn't want to write a memoir. I wasn't ready to relive every moment on the page. Then, one day, the voices arrived. Characters began introducing themselves. An entire town took shape in my imagination. A woman who could see ghosts. A comic book shop owner who had no idea what he was walking into. A quirky afterlife organization. Edgar. Plants. Coffee. Small-town chaos. Love.

And beneath all of it... grief.

Happily Ever Afterlife became the place where I could pour everything I had learned about death, dying, love, and loss into fiction. Because grief is one of society's last uncomfortable conversations. We whisper around it. Avoid it. Pretend it isn't waiting for every one of us.

But grief changes us.

It burrows into our bones. It leaves us raw, aching, and forever altered. And somehow, if we're willing, it also teaches us how precious this messy, beautiful life really is.

This story is woven with pieces of my own life. My family. My husband. Friends. Stories I've carried with permission. And most of all, my dad. You'll find little pieces of the people I love scattered throughout these pages, tucked into conversations, traditions, jokes, and moments of quiet tenderness.

At its heart, this isn't a story about death.

It's a story about learning how to live because death exists.

For years, I've had the privilege of serving as a death educator, sitting beside people as they took their final breaths and walking with families through the unimaginable weight of grief. Those experiences forever changed me. They taught me that love doesn't end when a heartbeat does. They taught me that laughter belongs in grief just as much as tears. And they showed me that our stories continue long after we're gone.

That work continues today through The Death Collective and through every story I write.

Nora and Aric's journey is only the beginning.

I hope you'll come along for the rest.