After an early career as a professional dancer I became a social worker, therapist, and social work professor. When my own life handed me so many invitations to grieve–I turned to the arts and they did not disappoint. I published a book about my experiences accompanying two of my adult children and my best friend through serious illnesses and death and was surprised that many people seemed afraid to read it. This put me on a several yearlong path writing weekly blogs and researching how grief got such a bad reputation. This has resulted in my recently published book, The Art of Grieving: How Art and Art-Making Help Us Grieve and Live Our Best Lives and my offering a five week course on Reimagine based on the book. Since 2006 I have directed and performed with the Wing & A Prayer Pittsburgh Players, an InterPlay-based improvisational troupe, often responding to topics of grief and loss.