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Written by a religious scholar and psychotherapist, this book delves into the grief process in a personal and professional manner. It primarily explores the death of the author's mother, who had dementia, and her feelings related to this loss, such as feeling directionless, a loss of purpose, and how to go on. The text also examines grief as a natural process. It explores rituals of various cultures and discusses external expressions of grief such as crying, making art, and writing.
Other aspects include spiritual questions, the author's own spiritual journey, and coping with death and her own mortality. Defining religion and spirituality, she weaves her personal experiences into these constructs. The memoir discusses in depth her trauma at a young age, grief, and the losses of other family members, including her father. It also reveals a children's story she wrote and the importance of legacy, sewing, and music as legacy.
This memoir about Raab's own life and the death of family members, especially the death of her mother, is a touching look into the grief process on spiritual and psychological levels. Raab's use of a variety of coping methods to deal with her grief also gives readers ways to help with their own grief and helps them relate to the story itself. The book draws on research, which adds to the work's professionalism. Using poetry, short stories, art, and journaling enhances the book's creativity. Although the children's story is well-written, its inclusion in the text somewhat detracts from the narrative flow. Overall, though, the author has crafted an interesting memoir.
Raab is a 2011 and 2016 Eric Hoffer Book Award honoree.