Shattered mum reveals method for coping after loss

When Zoe Strickland’s son Elliot died by suicide six years ago, her world shattered. The next day, with grief still fresh and overwhelming, she picked up a Sharpie and drew a stick figure.

That small act became the first of many in a series of grief journals — 25 notebooks’ worth — and the beginning of her stick-figure character, Doodle Lady.

“It’s with humility and wobbly knees I publish my book. I wrote it for me – but I share it for us,” Zoe said.

The Bli Bli author’s debut book To Grief With Love is a lyrical and illustrated record of living with loss. Combining raw sketches, scribbled reflections, and selected poems and quotes, the book explores the complexity of grief with honesty, vulnerability and hope.

Zoe began sharing her drawings online, where others found solace in Doodle Lady’s quiet expressions of sorrow and resilience. Encouraged by the response, she has now compiled her work into a published volume.

“The sketches show raw and relatable sorrow, pain and longing,” she said. “But they also show steadiness, lightness of being, unexpected beauty in the numinous, and most of all LOVE — because they sit side by side.”

Each year, suicide claims the lives of around 3000 Australians. It leaves thousands of families and friends grappling with profound and complex grief.

Zoe hopes her book can offer a sense of connection and comfort.

“I share To Grief With Love as a hug. I share to honour fragility and to connect in compassion with other wayfarers so they don’t feel alone.”

Copies of the book are available at the Little Book Nook in Palmwoods. To learn more or to purchase a book visit: www.zoestricklandpublishing.com; Facebook: Zoe Strickland Publishing; Instagram: @the_grief_room_