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Born and raised in New York, Ellen Gerst grew up wanting her classmates to share in her joy of reading. At a young age, she decided to train to beocme an English teacher and attempt to instill in her students a love for the written word.
Of course, master plans such as hers are oftentimes altered as life proceeds, and one calling lost is another found. Although she did receive a degree in English Secondary Education, she decided to use her teaching and writing skills in a less formal atmosphere than originally planned. However, Ellen remains a teacher in her every endeavor.
Quite a researcher and still a library lover, every time Ellen encountered questions or issues, she would head to the stacks. What she found ws that she was able to digest enormous amounts of information and succinctly write a short essay on a topic and come to a well-thought out conclusion. She became the "go-to" person for her friends, for they all knew that she investigated all issues thoroughly before deciding on how to proceed.
When Ellen became suddenly single at the age of 39 due to the death of her first husband, this investigative trait and her love of writing served her well.
To move through her grief, she often jotted down her feelings. Additionally, having been married at the age of twenty, there were lots of things she had never done by herself about which she needed to learn. Thus, she began her exploration into the practical, spiritual, physical and emotional aspects of moving through widowhood in a graceful and successful manner. And she began to write about her findings in an effort to help herself figure out how to emerge from her bereavement. You could say that she was a pioneer blogger on coping with grief.
After working on her grief for many years, which included training as a Certified Grief Recovery Specialist and receiving her coaching certification, she decided it was time to start livng again. She started to date via the Internet. Having met her first husband when she was fifteen, dating was a unique and new experience for her. Surprisingly, what she found was that most everyone was in the same boat as she was; they didn't have a clue either! A good many were also doubly handicapped by not understanding what it took to forge a healthy and long lasting relationship. So, of course, she felt obligated to write a "how-to" book: Surfing For Love In All The Right Ways. Matter of fact, she would give it to her prospective suitors as a primer! Ellen did eventually find a new beginning and is now happily married.
In 2010, she wrote Love After Loss: Writing the Rest of Your Story, which greatly expands on the information first presented in Surfing for Love. For those men and women who have lost a mate/partner through death, divorce or break-up, Love After Loss provides a framework for redesigning a future that can include a new love connection.
Ellen has gone on to write over 30 books, which cover a myriad of subjects including: coping with grief, how to find love after loss, dating and relationship advice, spirituality, caregiving for aging parents, fitness and weight loss, networking and social media for entrepreneurs, suicide awareness, and teen pregnancy prevention.
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