Our Story

Lynn Shattuck was 24 when her younger brother and only sibling, Will, died. His unexpected, substance-related death reshaped her family and life in innumerable ways. When she turned to the internet, hoping to find books written by others who’d lost siblings, she found more books on pet loss than adult sibling loss. 

 

In 2014, Lynn wrote an essay coining sibling loss “The Loss of a Lifetime.” The essay argues that our relationships with our siblings are unique– there’s almost no other relationship in which we could expect to spend an entire lifetime with someone. And yet, sibling loss remains underrepresented and is the least studied relationship in the bereavement field. 

 

Alyson Shelton’s brother Michael died in 1984, when she was ten years old. In 2021, Alyson and Lynn connected through a writing community online. Upon realizing Alyson had an early experience with sibling loss, Lynn invited her to join a community of writers who would eventually create an anthology on sibling loss. As Alyson began to unpack how deeply she was affected by Michael’s death, she offered to partner with Lynn on the anthology.

 

From there, Alyson was introduced to Molly, whose brother, Jimmy, died in 2014. Molly, who works in design in healthcare, shared her desire to create more community around sibling loss. Though Molly and Alyson were virtually strangers, they had much to talk about. Their conversations, which evolved to include Lynn, wove through a variety of topics from deciding what to say when someone asks “How many siblings do you have?” to the inherent loneliness of being a surviving sibling. In the process of these discussions around creating community, they inadvertently conceived their own. Now, they’d like to invite you to join them.