Nick HutchisonFounder and CEO, BookThinkers

Grief never truly leaves. But neither does love. #nonfictionbooks #grief

28 Jul 2026 · 1 min

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1:24

In this spoken monologue, Nick Hutchinson muses on the profound question of whether death truly ends a relationship. He references his own Memento Mori tattoo as a daily reminder of mortality and describes how Stephen Ferrara’s book—born from journaling after the tragic loss of his 23‑year‑old son—shifted his perspective. Ferrara’s journal entries evolved into an "active conversation" with his deceased son, encouraging readers to move from asking "what could have been" to exploring "what can still be" through belief in ongoing dialogue. Hutchinson argues that, with inner work and experimentation, grief can be transformed into gratitude and inner peace. He urges listeners to share the book with anyone currently grieving, suggesting it may provide a pathway to peace.

Chapters

Here's one of those questions that really breaks your brain when you stop and you think about it. The question is, what if death isn't the end of a relationship? I think about death a little bit more than the average person. I mean, I literally have Memento Mori— remember, you're going to die— tattooed on my chest as a reminder that life is finite and to take advantage of the time that I am alive. But this book has really challenged me. After losing his 23-year-old son in a car accident, author Stephen Ferrara began journaling his way through grief. Grief. Over time, these journal entries kind of became like an active conversation with his son, and eventually they became this book. The biggest idea for me was instead of asking what could have been, which is a very natural part of the grieving process, you can start asking what can still be if you start to believe in this active conversation. I think all of us can say that we've lost somebody close to us. That's just part of the human condition. But It is possible through a lot of inner work and experimentation to find ways to turn almost anything, even grief, into gratitude and inner peace. It's an interesting question to think about, and it certainly has helped me reframe the way that I think about death and I think about grief. And I think that this book can help a lot of people. So share this with somebody who's really going through it right now, and they may be able to find a little bit of peace from their journey.