My Book
Life Upside Down: The Fall that Transformed Our Lives, Lifting Me Through Grief, Love, and Quadriplegia
“If ever there were a ‘handbook’ for the messy, sticky, uneven, inside-out, non-linear nature of grief, this is it.
Beth is a grief midwife, and reading her book is the next best thing to having her support your process.”
~ Amy McFarlin
Certified Relational Life Therapy Coach
About Life Upside Down
When Beth's partner Michael breaks his neck in a mountain biking accident, their lives change overnight.
As Michael adjusts to life with a spinal cord injury, Beth takes on an unexpected new role. She's still his partner, but now she's also his caregiver.
Michael is alive. But so much of the life they knew together is gone.
Life Upside Down is Beth's deeply personal story of navigating a kind of grief that doesn't always get recognized. Of learning to live with uncertainty, anger, and loss while holding on to love, humor, and the possibility of joy.
Through grief rituals, creative exploration, and her own sometimes messy attempts to make sense of it all, Beth begins to discover what it might mean to befriend grief rather than fight it.
Told with raw honesty and irreverent humor, Life Upside Down will have you laughing and crying, sometimes at the same time. And if you're facing a major loss or life transition of your own, Beth's story just might help you find your way right side up again.
When Life Turns Upside Down...
A glimpse of the love, loss, and unexpected journey at the heart of Beth's memoir.
(Video will go here. Do I have the video link already?)
What Readers Are Saying
“Life Upside Down is an invitation to share our humanity, our tears, our fears, our loss, and our pain as a tribe and to hold each other up in love and compassion.”
Tristen Bonacci
“Couldn’t put it down, my heart wouldn't let me… I highly, highly recommend devoting time to reading it.”
Hollie Annesely
“As a person coping with a disability, and also having loved ones with severe disabilities, I found myself grateful to Beth for the vulnerable honesty with which she details her experience.”
AnimaStellarum
“I could not stop reading Beth’s story about living through Quadriplegia. I laughed, cried, and then laughed and cried more. Beth’s willingness to share all the emotions, pits, hurdles, anger, and tears makes for an amazing story of how she overcame all the obstacles and grief to somehow come out committed to helping others deal with their own grief.”
Lisa
“That Beth’s story is gripping, and her writing is both poignant and humorous (a hard duo to master!), lured me in… but what kept me reading (for 8 hours straight) was watching her heart continue to stretch and open through unimaginable circumstances.”
Amy McFarling
“This book answered questions I didn't know I had about quadriplegia and the miracle that is the human body. Her ritual details encourage me to add community to my healing path. I can hear the unspoken question from friends, why would you read a book like that?! All of us have our own grief stories. This book was easy for me to read. It is a balm of understanding and compassion.”
Maia Hope
What Readers Are Saying
“Life Upside Down is an invitation to share our humanity, our tears, our fears, our loss, and our pain as a tribe and to hold each other up in love and compassion.”
Tristen Bonacci
“Couldn’t put it down, my heart wouldn't let me… I highly, highly recommend devoting time to reading it.”
Hollie Annesely
“As a person coping with a disability, and also having loved ones with severe disabilities, I found myself grateful to Beth for the vulnerable honesty with which she details her experience.”
AnimaStellarum
“That Beth’s story is gripping, and her writing is both poignant and humorous (a hard duo to master!), lured me in… but what kept me reading (for 8 hours straight) was watching her heart continue to stretch and open through unimaginable circumstances.”
Amy McFarling
“I could not stop reading Beth’s story about living through Quadriplegia. I laughed, cried, and then laughed and cried more. Beth’s willingness to share all the emotions, pits, hurdles, anger, and tears makes for an amazing story of how she overcame all the obstacles and grief to somehow come out committed to helping others deal with their own grief.”
Lisa
“This book answered questions I didn't know I had about quadriplegia and the miracle that is the human body. Her ritual details encourage me to add community to my healing path. I can hear the unspoken question from friends, why would you read a book like that?! All of us have our own grief stories. This book was easy for me to read. It is a balm of understanding and compassion.”
Maia Hope
About The Author
Beth Erlander is a grief coach, art therapist, author, caregiver, and joy detective. For more than 25 years, she's supported people through grief, loss, trauma, and life's unexpected turns, while navigating plenty of grief in her own life, too.
She believes grief needs attention, not fixing, and that there's still room for beauty, laughter, and joy alongside even the hardest losses.
BETH ERLANDER
Copyright 2026. Beth Erlander. All Rights Reserved.