In 2016, Samantha Waters was emailing Mike Rowe for a spot on Dirty Jobs to promote her son's successful construction company. Just three years later she was calling the morgue and checking booking reports daily for her son's name. Her son's fall from entrepreneur to homeless addict was brutal and heartbreaking. Samantha could hardly believe the devastation addiction had on her family, and she was determined to heal it. Unconventional grief, also known as ambiguous grief, is mourning someone who is still alive. Unlike conventional grief or anticipatory grief, families are unsure whether the person will get better or pass on. Substance use is one cause of ambiguous grief, as every single day could be the last. For over five years, Samantha Waters waited for that phone call while simultaneously searching every nook and cranny for a "cure." She prayed, begged, and borrowed for one more day to get her son well. The pages of 1000 Last Goodbyes detail the compelling, raw story of a mom who refused to give up.