The Luck We Carry: Love, Loss, and the Stories that Shape Us

Grief is inevitable if you’re lucky.
And I was the luckiest of them all.

The Luck We Carry is a collection of personal essays about love, loss, and the quiet, complicated ways life continues after it has been irrevocably changed. When Ron Stempkowski lost his husband, Ken, grief became part of his daily life. But it was never the whole story.

Written over many years, these essays explore what it means to keep living when the future you imagined disappears. They sit with the realities of grief without offering platitudes, timelines, or tidy resolutions. Instead, they make space for memory, devotion, humor, and the small moments that remind us we are still here.

This is not a guide to grieving. It is a companion.

Through reflections on marriage, chosen family, identity, and the strange logistics of loss, The Luck We Carry honors the truth that love does not end when someone is gone. It changes shape. It lingers. It becomes something we carry forward.

Each essay includes a brief author’s note, offering context about when the piece was written and where the author was emotionally at the time. These notes are not explanations or instructions, but gentle markers that allow readers to locate themselves in the story, wherever they may be on their own journey.

Tender without being sentimental and hopeful without denial, The Luck We Carry speaks to readers who have loved deeply, lost profoundly, and are learning how to live with both truth and grace.

This book is for:
• Readers navigating life after the loss of a spouse or partner
• Anyone living with grief, change, or profound transition
• Readers who value honest, reflective storytelling
• Those who believe love continues, even after loss

The Luck We Carry is a reminder that grief is not something to get over, but something to live with. And if we are lucky enough to have loved, it is something worth carrying.