A Novel Helped Me Mourn

Posted on February 3, 2014 by Susie Finkbeiner

A few years ago a friend of mine died. She’d been sick for a long time. I’m talking years. One health issue after another.

When she passed away, I was sad. Extremely sad.

The problem was, I just couldn’t seem to mourn. I cried. But didn’t mourn.

Yes. There is a difference.

Months went by. I was still blocked. What I didn’t realize is that grief works its way in strange ways. That the way I best realize grief is by writing.

And sometimes by reading.

I remember reading Club Sandwich by Lisa Samson. The kids were napping. I was curled up on the couch. I read a scene in the book that triggered it.

It pulled the grief to the surface. I gushed. It was a good thing the kiddos were sleeping. I was a mess.

Because what I’d read was just about exactly what I felt when my friend passed away.

Lisa Samson had written something that made me feel like I wasn’t alone. That gave me permission to release the pain.

Fiction is powerful. It truly is.

I feel like Lisa gave me a gift. I know she didn’t write it for me specifically. However, she wrote it as a gift for all who would read her book.

My Mother’s Chamomile releases in less than 2 weeks. Some people will read it. I hope, truly hope, that it is a gift to my readers. I mean for it to be.

My desire is that this gift will help someone release something inside them that is blocked.

Fear.

Grief.

Bitterness toward God.

In 2 Corinthians 1:3-7, we read that we are able to comfort because of the comfort we’ve received.

I received that kind of comfort when I read Lisa Samson’s novel.

Because I was comforted, I hope to offer that selfsame mercy to you. In one way or another.

That is a gift I’d like to give to you.