This week I read a powerful newly released book I haven't been able to get out of my mind. It's called Rare Bird by Anna Whitson-Donaldson. In September 2011, Anna's 12 year old son, Jack, drowned in a neighborhood creek flooded by a freak storm in the suburban Washington, DC area. Before this happened, Anna had a blog, An Inch Of Gray, that focused on painting furniture and the occasional posts about family life. After the accident, she poured her emotions out and walked through her grief with blog readers.
In the introduction to her book, Anna writes,
I thought the first book I'd write would be about painting furniture. It would have suggestions, techniques, and even inspirational Bible verses sprinkled throughout it...But this is the book I wrote. I wish I had nothing to say on the matter of loss, but I do. Because one ordinary day I encouraged my two kids to go out and play in the rain and only one child came home.
Anna's writing is very honest, raw and emotional. But it's not a story without hope. As a Christian, Anna knows her son is in heaven. She knows she'll see him again someday. Rare Bird addresses a question in the back of every mother's mind...how would I go on if I lost a child? She writes,
My new story was a tragedy so frightening that, as parents, we feel we risk something even by thinking about it, because it whispers into our hearts a truth we don't want to hear. That we can't keep our children safe. That we don't know what the future holds. We want to cover our ears, close our eyes, and turn away from the horror of that truth.
My new story was a tragedy so frightening that, as parents, we feel we risk something even by thinking about it, because it whispers into our hearts a truth we don't want to hear. That we can't keep our children safe. That we don't know what the future holds. We want to cover our ears, close our eyes, and turn away from the horror of that truth.
Anna asks the hard questions and doesn't hold back in describing her journey from wanting to die every day after the accident to embracing life again. She brings her son to life with her words. She writes,
...this isn't a scary book. It's a book about a loving relationship between a mother and her boy. It's about being faced with impossible circumstances and wanting to accept nothing less than the chance to turn back the clock. It's about anger and profound sadness, but also about a flicker of hope that comes from the realization that in times of heartbreak, God is closer than our own skin. It's about being real and showing up in the pain.
We all have or will face circumstances that bring us to our knees. Rare Bird is a book that holds out hope in the midst of pain. It's a beautiful testimony to the power of love, community, faith, and ultimately trust in God.
...this isn't a scary book. It's a book about a loving relationship between a mother and her boy. It's about being faced with impossible circumstances and wanting to accept nothing less than the chance to turn back the clock. It's about anger and profound sadness, but also about a flicker of hope that comes from the realization that in times of heartbreak, God is closer than our own skin. It's about being real and showing up in the pain.
We all have or will face circumstances that bring us to our knees. Rare Bird is a book that holds out hope in the midst of pain. It's a beautiful testimony to the power of love, community, faith, and ultimately trust in God.
