One of our missions at JJMF is to provide our community with great resources. I love to read and there are so many books that have given me inspiration and provided moments of reflection along my journey. Please enjoy the recap of my favorites shared in 2021.

 

• Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl 

This book shaped my attitude as I dealt with June’s health complications and the scary and unbelievable heartache that followed. Frankl – an Austrian neurologist, psychiatrist, and Holocaust survivor, talks about his experience in the concentration camps. He then explains how finding meaning can help us endure and overcome suffering. I was in awe of him. I couldn’t fathom how he could write about meaning after experiencing so much senseless evil, hate, and heartache.

 

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• Ambiguous Loss: Learning to Live with Unresolved Grief by Dr. Pauline Boss

Dr. Pauline Boss’s book Ambiguous Loss gave me words for the unique grief I experienced after June received one new diagnosis after another. I was so sad and heartbroken, yet I had this beautiful baby whom I loved with all my heart. The mixed emotions were confusing. Boss coined the term ambiguous loss in the 1970s and defined it as “frozen grief” that is “incomplete and uncertain.” In other words, there is no closure. In the book, Boss explains ambiguous loss in more depth, discusses strategies for living with it, and shares stories of others who have coped.

 

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• Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, HER Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed by Lori Gottlieb 

This book is about a therapist, her patients, and her struggles and breakthroughs through her own therapy. It’s a self-help memoir, but it reads like a novel. Think The Home Edit for the psyche, but in addition to watching organizers tidy up people’s houses, you realize that the organizer has a massive junk drawer that needs some love. The characters are complex yet relatable, and I learned something from each one. If you’ve ever wondered what therapy is like or what it’s like to be a therapist, this book gives you a glimpse. It made me laugh, cry, and really think about areas in my life where I might be like the characters. Like watching an organizing show and adapting those tools and tricks to my life, I learned lessons from each character’s time in therapy and applied them to my own life. 

 

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• Hope Will Find You: My Search for the Wisdom to Stop Waiting and Start Living by Naomi Levy

This is a story about a mother whose five-year-old daughter, Noa, receives a potentially fatal neurodegenerative diagnosis; however, they wouldn’t know for sure if Noa has the disease for about seven years. ‘What had taken me so long to read this book?!’ I thought two pages in. As I read on, I could relate to so many of her scenarios: getting bad news from the doctor; waiting; living in fear; waiting; not just losing faith, but pure rage at God; more waiting; and the many complex emotions with living in the unknowns. The book transformed my definition of hope and prayer, and I think it will change yours, too.

 

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• Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Check out the audiobook for this one. The dialogue-heavy story, scripted in a very music documentary style chronicles the rise and fall of a fictional ’70s rock band. It’s SO good and perfect for a road trip playlist.

 

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• Self-Love Workbook for Women: Release Self-Doubt, Build Self-Compassion, and Embrace Who You Are by Megan Logan MSW LCSW 

Featured in JJMF’s Month of June Care Packages, this book gives you a tangible way to incorporate self-care. Megan was featured on the JJMF webinar, Navigating Neurological Conditions — watch, read or listen here. You can also connect in community with mothers of medically complex children and bereaved mothers for JJMF’s Self-Love Workbook for Women Workshop and for discussion in our private Facebook group.

 

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• Real Happiness: A 28-Day Program to Realize the Power of Meditation by Sharon Salzberg 

In this book, Salzberg defines meditation, discusses the benefits, and then goes through four different types of meditations to review each week. My favorite is the one in week four which focuses on loving kindness meditation. That specific meditation has helped me deal with anger, and I still go back to it regularly. As a bonus, the book comes with audio downloads with guided meditations.

 

Buy it on Amazon

 

• The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave 

Escape into one of the best novels of the year! A pretty quick read (or 🎧), great for a weekend read or a hospital stay. It’s a roller coaster with lots of suspenseful twists and turns, an unraveling of the past, family bonds, and an examination into doing anything for your child, even living without them.

 

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• The Invisible String by Patrice Karst

This book focuses on a child’s fear of being separated from their parents and loved ones and reassures the child that we are always connected to everyone we love by an invisible string. The book mentions death, but it’s not the focus – the love and the unbreakable connection is, and I think that’s why I love it so much.

 

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• Caring for Children Who Have Severe Neurological Impairment: A Life with Grace by Julie M. Hauer

I know there are no parenting guides for children with severe neurological disorders, but this is the closest one to it! It is a technical book, written for medical students, doctors and healthcare professionals, but it is also easy to understand for parents and caregivers and helps explain what we hear from our doctors during appointments but need another way to soak in the information. I highly recommended this book for all parents of children with these needs as well as anyone working with our kids.

 

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• Emotional Detox: 7 Steps to Release Toxicity and Energize Joy by Sherianna Boyle 

The book describes what an emotional detox is and its benefits along with a seven step process to work through hard emotions and bring us back to joy, which Boyle says is our natural state. I love how she uses her own personal trauma to explain how she worked through these steps too. The book helped me notice unhealthy patterns and provided tips on how to develop new habits.

 

Buy it on Amazon

 

• Ladybugs, Butterflies and Cardinals: Finding Signs of Loved Ones Lost by Connie Schmid

This children’s book, written by my friend and fellow bereaved mom, Connie Schmid, is about staying connected with loved ones we lost and the signs they send to us from Heaven. Connie has over 30 years of experience as a preschool teacher, so she knows how to answer difficult questions from children and talk to them about death.

 

Both George and Peter love this book, especially the reference to ladybugs. I know death is scary, especially to children, but I think talking about it and our beliefs around what happens when we die loosens the grip the fear has over us. This book addresses the loss and focuses on the signs from our loved ones. It’s always extra special to hear one of my boys say, “Look, Mom! It’s a sign from June.

 

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