Book Club

Betsy mentioned in her latest blog post a book about baby loss that she read and enjoyed (linked below). I can't second her recommendation more; it was an amazing, powerful read. When I finished, I had a huge smile on my face and tears streaming down my cheeks. I was overjoyed at having found this book, heartbroken at her story (and mine), thrilled with the happy ending. While the details she wrote about are hers alone, in the overall story she could have been writing down the the music to a song from my own heart. And that song is one familiar to all DBMs. I started highlighting passages, but had to stop when I realized that on one page more was highlighted than was not. At one in the morning, the second I finished it, I emailed her to let her know how much it touched me and how perfect it was. I'm sure the email was completely nonsensical and full of grammatical and spelling mistakes, but I had to let her know how it touched me.

The book is called An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination, by Elizabeth McCracken. I can't recommend it enough. I wish I could buy a copy for everyone who has gone through this and I wish I could make everyone who doesn't understand what I'm going through read it.

Two other books that I also found comforting and enjoyed (well, as much as one can enjoy a book while they are in the throes of grief) are Naming the Child, by Jenny Schroedel and A Grief Observed, by C.S. Lewis (yep, that C.S. Lewis). Both great books. A little more religious, but I'm not a religious person at all and didn't find that aspect overwhelming with those books like I did some others. A Grief Observed is about the death of Lewis's wife, but his insights are universally applicable.

All three highly recommended, and all three are fairly quick, easy reads.

(C.S., Jenny, Elizabeth...I take kickbacks.)

(C.S. I know you're dead but you can send some winning lottery numbers my way and we'll call it good.)