My thesis is a collection of short stories entitled, "Not unacquainted with pain." These stories all depict narrators in the midst of great loss as they try to cope, comprehend, and carry on. These narrators seek to deal with their feelings of grief, guilt, and longing as they look for definition in the world around them. They seek to articulate their feelings in a variety of different ways, through connection with family, to disassociation with family, to seeking epiphany in a work of art. The narrators themselves range dramatically in age and experience, from a seven year-old girl, to a seventy year-old woman. The stories range in tone from tragic, to aloof, to humorous.