About Us

The origin of the six-word story:

Legend has it that famous author Ernest Hemingway, out to lunch at the Algonquin, bet a table full of fellow writers he could write a short story in just six words. His companions had their doubts and wagered ten dollars each to put Hemingway to the test. As the story goes, Hemingway believed the resulting story to be his finest work ever:

“For sale: Baby shoes. Never worn.”

Although the validity of this anecdote is contested, there’s absolutely no question this is a darn find short story.

Grief in Six Words:

Individual narratives about grief and loss are detailed, nuanced, complex and ongoing. Each grieving person has a unique story to tell, with a past, present, and future. The thought of telling these stories in their entirety, for many, can seem impossibly overwhelming.

This is why the challenge of choosing the perfect six words to tell your grief story can be so freeing. The six-word story is unassuming, uncomplicated, manageable, and yet surprisingly powerful.

Like the six-word story, this website is simple. Here’s what you can do:

  1. Share your own six-word story about grief
  2. Read six-word stories submitted by other visitors
  3. Show appreciation for six-word stories by clicking on the heart below the entries that most resonate with you.

The six-word story asks both writer and reader to forget context and to rely on our common threads to communicate, comprehend, and connect. If nothing else, we hope that the stories you read on this site will help you to see that you are not the only one and you are not alone.

Grief in Six Words is brought to you by What’s Your Grief. Our other sites:
What’s Your Grief
Photogrief
WYG School