Today’s blog post is from Soles4Souls’ CEO, Buddy Teaster:
If you had to come up with a concept for a book, you probably couldn’t do much worse than “a middle aged woman’s husband is killed in a car accident, she becomes a Unitarian minister and has a career as a chaplain to the Maine Game Warden service.” I can only imagine the silence that must have greeted that pitch as visions of piles of unsold books filled the room.
But the courageous people at Back Bay Books have done a great thing by giving us Kate Braestrup’s beautiful book, Here If You Need Me: A True Story. This very real woman writes in a way that I find moving, insightful and wise, not to mention very enjoyable. I quite literally read it without putting it down.
Whether describing the hard reality of dealing with the death of others’ loved ones, the grief of losing her own police officer husband or the joy just being in the outdoors, Kate Braestrup brought me into her world in a friendly and intimate way. She opened me up to the small beauties and bigger truths that others can often reveal to us.
I would be doing you a disservice to give away any more pertinent info. I highly recommend that you read it. If you are looking for an innovative perspective on kindness, imperfection, grace and love, do yourself a favor and read Here If You Need Me. And then pass it along to a friend.