I am listening to a Reese Witherspoon book, Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall. I just happened upon it because it was well rated. I have been surprised and delighted by how much it resonates with me.
As a mom who lost two of my children in one year I really identify with the loss the main character is experiencing and expressing over the loss of her young son.
At one point she describes how it feels to share this shocking news with a stranger. The description (paraphrased) is perfect: stumbling to help comfort them as they confront the awkwardness of your grief.
Later she laments how the townspeople don’t want to talk about her son and it feels like everyone wants to forget or as if he never existed.
One of my sons was a high school senior when he died. His fellow students were wonderful about reaching out and still keep in touch and we share in a very real way. The school was another story. They did everything to see it his tragic death by suicide under the rug, refusing (and finally relenting the following year) to grant him a posthumous diploma, forbidding he be referenced or acknowledged openly at graduation, refusing to allow me to purchase a plaque with his name (on a wall where such plaques are displayed), and refusing to allow a nonprofit to sponsor an athletic event aimed at mental health awareness.
I often discuss my sons in passing. Just like I talk about my living children I will say, oh, Q really liked to play video games or SK loved to dribble his basketball. I feel those around me clam up because I think they are not sure if I am crazy or just not sure in general. But I don’t want to forget them. It terrifies me to think they may be erased from memory and existence.
I think you will enjoy this book and if you’ve experienced a loss especially as a mom I think you will find it particularly insightful and healing in the way that someone who gets you can provide.
Notes From Real Life 