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The following are excerpts from letters and e mails received since publication. I have not used last names due to the deeply personal nature of some of the comments.
" I can't thank you enough. I also have an adopted son, who means the world to me. We had some problems with his birthparents when he was younger, threatening to take him back… After reading your book, I no longer have those fears. I was able to cry and release repressed feelings, especially when Eddie gave you his "meaning of mom" letter.
Thanks again, your book made a difference in my life."
- Carol
"I woke up at 4:45 to finish the book. I am in awe… I hope when Ella embarks
on her journey to find her birth mother I can have an ounce your dignity and grace.. This book has made me look through Ella's eyes in a better way. Thank you."
- M
"I just finished "Hard to Place" this morning after stealing as many precious moments as possible this weekend to read it! It was riveting, and it really affected me…I also loved your descriptions of how nature helped heal hard times. I really loved the book… it shines with intelligence, intensity and love… As people said at your reading, some of the things that happened just seemed so unbelievable that it's shocking that it's true. The triumph of all your family members to overcome the obstacles makes for a real tale of courage and caring."
- Linda
"You write with such honesty, openness, and passion, but you never cross the line, you never look for sympathy or over -dramatize your emotions. It is often pure poetry.
Know the gratitude with which this book is received."
- Sandra
"The line on page 168 "To be loved could only enhance ones existence" was very meaningful to me. You hit the nail squarely on the head and I knew exactly what you meant. When our two adopted daughters finally connected with their birth families, we felt their "existence was enhanced" and so was ours. I saw many of my feelings in your thoughts throughout the book and I understood your passion as an adoptive mother. It was a comfortable feeling to relate to you."
- Marie
"The book left me speechless. I could not put it down and was done on night 2. I started my tears on or about page 14…"
- Donna
"I don't want to let the moment pass though without telling you what a wonderful book you have written. .. The book is full of humanity and lots of faith and it is beautifully written".
- Jane
"The book is beautiful and wonderful…I feel like parts of it are speaking to me on a very personal level."
- Nancy
"I read your book last night non-stop between 8 PM and 2 AM. I couldn't put it down until I knew how it ended. It is beautifully written with incredible openness and love."
- Sally
"I just finished reading your beautiful memoir of your family and the years of child- raising. It was one of the MOST inspiring, truthful and sensitive portraits of a family that I have ever read. Anyone who reads your story enhances their own live with inspiration and joy. I just couldn't put your book down!! Bless you for writing it.
- Roberta
"I have just finished reading "Hard To Place". I could hardly put your story down, being so completely wrapped up in it. Never have I read a book that rings so true, is so honest, and so beautifully told. Thank you for telling "your story."
- Anneliese
"My daughter and I could not put your book down… Thank you for writing such an insightful and riveting story."
- Dory
"Everyone was enthralled with your reading of excerpts. There was such silence. People were both spellbound and moved by what they heard, leaving them eager to read this memoir and learn more about this incredible family journey. At our table it sparked quite a long discussion afterward, as several women shared touching personal stories about adoption within their own families..You have a poets way with your prose"
- Susan
"I'm terribly moved throughout by your wrestling with the angel of faith so honestly. I think your doing that makes this book one of the best I've read about struggling with doubt and - simply, honestly, in a way that's completely accessible and acceptable to an agnostic like me- coming to some fragile but taut answers (and I'm always on the lookout for such books, so I've read a number). I mean that, sincerely. I'll be going back to read your spiritual sections - in order, as they develop through the book - for my own soul's sake. You've offered me and other readers prose poems to learn from here!"
- E.M.E.
"Your descriptions of events are so vivid and alive, concise and thought-filled, the reader knows exactly what happened and how it affected everyone involved…I was truthfully very moved, with a lump in my throat more than once. Your story, as you tell it, is a gift to us all…"
- Frank
"I was deeply touched by something in every chapter. I got so emotional at times that I could no longer see the words."
- Linda
"What an accomplishment!... I stayed up all night to finish the book… I wept as you described your family’s struggles with addiction because I know the confusion, frustration, anger, fear and heartbreak of the disease…"
- Anne
"I have adopted two little boys…Your story, so many years beyond ours, is an inspiration and has helped us think about the years ahead. It has affected us deeply, swirling through our minds and our conversations about our boys. I really appreciate the courage and willingness to share your experiences with Kurt and Eddie…"
- Allen |
