About The Book: Grief: A Mama’s Unwanted Journey is the book you want no one to need yet know at some point in life, everyone will. It is for those walking through the searing pain of grief and also for those walking arm-in-arm with a loved one along grief's tumultuous journey. Shelley Ramsey knows this pain well. Eleven years ago Ramsey’s oldest son Joseph died in a single-vehicle accident. Shelley chronicled her deeply personal reflections and arduous journey through grief in Grief: A Mama’s Unwanted Journey.
"Great grief is a ferocious fire. It can be a destroying or a refining fire-or both at once. This book combines searing honesty with wisdom and consolation. Most importantly, it offers realistic hope that while grief and suffering are real words-about the lost one and those who have lost-they do not have to be the defining or final words. That final word is love, something that even suffering does not erase." -Daniel Taylor, author of The Skeptical Believer "'We cannot walk out of the cemetery and into life as we knew it. We must take time to grieve.' So says my friend Shelley, who knows the path to her son's grave well. If you are tired of platitudes, tired of the trite but untrue, this book is for you, as real and raw as it gets. Grieving moms, walk with her, learn from her successes and her mistakes, and hold her hand on the unwanted journey in the storm-tossed life-boat of grief. She will guide you safely back to sanity's shore." -Dane Skelton, pastor of Faith Community Church and author of Jungle Flight: Spiritual Adventures at the Ends of the Earth
About The Author: Shelley Ramsey lost her seventeen year old son in a single-vehicle car accident. She chronicles her deeply personal reflections and her arduous journey through grief in “Grief: A Mama’s Unwanted Journey.” Shelley and Phil have been married over thirty years and live in Virginia. In addition to Joseph, they are the adoring parents of adult sons, Curt and Wyatt.
http://www.shelleyramsey.com
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My Thoughts On The Book: This was by far the most difficult book I have ever read. My heart broke for the family from the very beginning of the story and hurt for them all the way up until the end. I can only imagine the struggle Shelley Ramsey had writing it. It was a soul bearing story and she held nothing back. This is probably the hardest review I have ever written. I do NOT know what it is like to lose my seventeen year old son, but I felt my own soul reaching out to Curt and Wyatt because I too am the surviving sibling of a tragedy like this. Our walk is different than that of the parent's walk....but it is still a walk we took.....and our lives too were changed in the blink of an eye. Ramsey addresses each member of her family, their personal grief and how they "cope." This book helped me an adult surviving sibling to understand what happened to my mom the day our family fractured. The book contained a lot of "do's" and "do not's" for those on the outside of the death. It was tender, raw, emotional, and I found myself having to put the book down and leave it when it hit way to close to home. As a pastor, this book would be a wonderful healing and counseling tool for someone experiencing such a loss and wondering, "Where is God?" I would highly recommend it.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Book Look Bloggers as part of their Blogger Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
