When God Takes Away

Book excerpt: Neal Randall Steinberg was born on August 28, 1986. He died on May 26, 2013. This is the story of his life, as told by his father, Dr. Mark Steinberg. As seen through his father's eyes, Neal's story is filled with joy and accomplishments, pride and deep love, sorrow and tragedy. The worth of a life is not measured by its longevity, for we all pass away like flowers in a field. And death ends a physical life, not a relationship. When God Takes Away tells the touching story of Neal Steinberg-his brilliance and loneliness, his family and those to whom he mattered, his development as a young star with so much promise, and, ultimately his decline into drug addiction. It is the story of a father's profound love for his son, the close bond they shared despite conflicts, and the helplessness of losing a child. More than the personal story of a family and its tragedies, When God Takes Away is a handbook for living with the realities of loss, a universal experience that everyone must endure. Revealing the depth of his personal despair and speaking from his decades of professional experience as a clinical neuropsychologist, Dr. Steinberg candidly discloses how loss affects our most core emotional and spiritual foundations. He bares his soul to connect with the reader's soul and share how losses reflect our capacities to attach emotionally with other beings and how to let go when it is time to do so. When God Takes Away is a compassionate and uplifting guide to dealing with the inevitability of loss and its integration into what really matters in your life. Steinberg tackles the difficult issues of mortality and relationship loss, as well as the seldom addressed realities of losing body functions, possessions, opportunities, and innocence. How each of us accepts and copes with loss reflects a developmental underpinning of how we learned to form emotional attachments and how we deal with trauma. Steinberg explores these truths with meaningful and practical explanations, bridging the psychological impact of loss with emotional comfort and coping tools. Living is intertwined with losing. How can we face loss without succumbing to weakness, hopelessness, and a losing attitude? When God Takes Away is a beacon in the darkness. This book shows how to cultivate and exercise determination, perseverance, and hope while maintaining an identity and security that neither resides in nor depends upon the gifts and possessions that are, in reality, temporary. If you are ready to give up your hurt and the stubbornness of sorrow, this book will light the path toward living with loss and surrender.