When Jan's husband died she was shocked by how badly her world fell apart.  

To honor his memory she decided to make herself available to other grieving people the way he, as a recovering alcoholic, had been available to other alcoholics and addicts.

She thought if she reached one person that would be enough.  She never thought it would result first in a blog, then in the Facebook page Grief Speaks Out which is a worldwide community with over 2.4 million likes.

Her book, Grief Day by Day has sold over 20,000 copies.  

At 69 she is still a vagabond, having been to all seven continents including countries like North Korea and Libya.

Her favorite thing is being a grandmother.