Step by Step by Candace Calvert

This is a medical fiction, so big surprise, I'm going to like it. But I'll be honest, I often feel a little sheepish posting fiction book reviews because so often it's hard for me to take away something inspirational and uplifting when the book was basically a romance novel disguised in another story. And I like those stories, just feel a little silly posting about them too often. And right now, I've had a hard time coming up with books that aren't fiction that look remotely inspiration to read, so fiction is the name of the game right now. Anyway, on to the book.

Yes, this book had some romance in it. You knew Tracy the main character was choosing the wrong guy right from the get go. But there was so much more in this book than that. Tracy was a widow of almost three years. And she decided to take the bull by the horns and by the three year date of her husband's death she was going to be so over it. She was going to check items off of her list and then she would be done. Grieving would be over and she was going to go on with her life as a different person. Except, of course, her world fell completely apart just before the third anniversary.

What really stuck out to me in this book were the comments on grieving. The other big ticket item in the book was the crisis team. This team was called out to help in the cases of death and disaster--they were the listeners and supporters of the survivors. From that context is where some of these thoughts come from.

"Written by Max Lucado. Stuck with me. He said something like 'Anger lives in sorrow's house.' Because in grief, we have to deal with more than memories; we're battling disappointment...our unlived tomorrows." That is so true. Grief does more than leave us with only memories; it strips of many would-have-dones, could-have-dones, etc. etc. The future is left open and vacant at the same time that the past is compressed into memories in the heart. And then because of this, anger becomes one of the stages of grief that we need to go through.

And another thought: "But it's like we tell folks at the gatherings; everyone's path is different. And it's not like you get rid of the sorrow altogether. It's like you put it in a special place in your heart. So you can remember the good times and all the love you had for them and for the life they lived. Then you use it to help other people on their journeys."

And, and, and, I could go on some more of the other things that stuck out to me in this, but you can get the book and read them for yourself.

This book was given me by Tyndale House for the purpose of reading and writing a review. All opinions expressed are my own.