Books

January 1, 2015

This month, I spent a lot of time reading memoirs. I started with Heaven is for Real and ended with Off Balance by Dominique Moceanu. In the middle I read two by mothers who have also experienced the loss of a child. One (Rare Bird) lost her 12 year-old son in a flash flood while he was playing in the late summer rain. Another (Not What We Were Expecting) had more similar experiences to ours. She has had multiple pregnancy losses including the trauma of late loss. What is amazing is that even though our experiences are all unique, the feelings during grief are shockingly similar. There are so many things the mother who lost her 12 year-old son said that I had written in my own words. I also related to the words of the mother who has had pregnancy loss.

Some people I’ve talked to can’t believe I’m choosing to read these books. “How can you surround yourself with so much pain?” they ask. But the truth is I find comfort in knowing there are people who get it. There are people who can speak about what I’m thinking and feeling. There are people who survive the pain and can carry on--changed forever, but not broken.