To celebrate the complicated mother-daughter relationship, Delman began the Letters from the Heart Project, which invites women to open their hearts by writing a letter to their mother. Here, for the first time, is a collection of the most powerful and inspiring messages from this project.

To celebrate the complicated mother-daughter relationship, Delman began the Letters from the Heart Project, which invites women to open their hearts by writing a letter to their mother. Here, for the first time, is a collection of the most powerful and inspiring messages from this project.

Though one in four pregnancies ends in loss, miscarriage is shrouded in such secrecy and stigma that the woman who experiences it often feels deeply isolated, unsure how to process her grief. Her body seems to have betrayed her. Her confidence in the goodness of God is rattled. Her loved ones don't know what to say. Her heart is broken. She may feel guilty, ashamed, angry, depressed, confused, or alone. With vulnerability and tenderness, Adriel Booker shares her own experience of three consecutive miscarriages, as well as the stories of others. She tackles complex questions about faith and suffering with sensitivity and clarity, inviting women to a place of grace, honesty, and hope in the redemptive purposes of God without offering religious clichés and pat answers. She also shares specific, practical resources, such as ways to help guide children through grief, suggestions for memorializing your baby, and advice on pregnancy after loss, as well as a special section for dads and loved ones.

The author, a computer science professor diagnosed with terminal cancer, explores his life, the lessons that he has learned, how he has worked to achieve his childhood dreams, and the effect of his diagnosis on him and his family.

Full-time FindingJoy.net blogger, speaker, marketer, podcaster, and single mom of seven, Rachel Marie Martin presents a rallying cry to anyone who believes the lie that she is "just a mom." Over the years, you willingly pour everything you have into your family, but in the process, you lose the essence of who you are. In her characteristic raw and visceral style, Rachel teaches you how to rewrite the pages of your story, follow your passion, and discover the beauty of who you are. Drawing on lessons from her own incredible journey--together with insight from conversations with thousands of other women--Rachel encourages moms to break cycles, take off masks, and prevent fear from taking control. She balances her "no excuses" approach with breathing room and grace for those messy moments in life and mothering. Rachel reminds you there is always a reason to hope, to move forward, and to dare the impossible. You can make changes. You can pursue dreams, find yourself, and live a life of deep happiness and boundless joy. Stop waiting for "someday." Take hold of the moment, and say yes to your dreams.

Muslim-American women, in all their diversity, are given the chance to tell their stories in their own voice by award-winning journalist Donna Gehrke-White. The only book of its kind, it tells in extraordinarily moving detail the lives of New Traditionalists, who wear the veil though their forebears did not; Blenders, who do not wear the veil but consider themselves spiritual; and Converts - women from other religious backgrounds who have converted to Islam. A rare, revealing look into the hearts, minds and lives of a misunderstood people.

Dear Reader: Every woman has stories to tell about her mother. The mother she has, the mother she wants, the mother she misses, the mother she didn't know. We carry our mothers with us. Sometimes we carry her in our hearts, in our heads-or on our backs. Sometimes we are connected to our mothers with the thick, strong cords of intertwined love and true acceptance; other times the bonds are stretched thin and taut, scratching against our consciousness, rubbing raw the sore spots in our souls. But we are always linked to our mothers: both to the dreams of the mothers we wish for and the realities of the mothers we have. Even if our mother has been gone for years-for decades-the relationship is still very much alive. Mom is still with us: offering advice, encouragement, criticism, appreciation, rejection, solace. What we daughters do with this ongoing commentary-whether we unknowingly incorporate it into our reality, or consciously and carefully review it, deciding what to keep and what to put away-is fundamental to how fully we lead our own lives. In Dear Mom: Women's Letters of Love, Loss, and Longing, you meet women who have stripped away pretenses, societal constraints, and basic fears to uncover and express their most private truths about their relationship with their mothers. You get to peer over the shoulders of the women, share in their laughter, and experience their struggles. You see how other women cast light on this most complicated, rewarding, and sometimes frustrating relationship. You witness women at different stages of their lives reflecting on the legacies their mothers (knowingly or unconsciously, but always powerfully) left them. You hear how other women experience the glories and the scars, the hurt and the healing that make up this most primal of connections. You also get to meet the women behind the letters, since each Dear Mom letter is followed by a profile of the contributor. You learn about the surprises, satisfactions, and challenges they faced in writing down their most private truths. The 25 Dear Mom contributors include women from a variety of backgrounds, careers, religions, and lifestyles. They include (present and former) teachers, business owners, homemakers, real estate agents, artists, secretaries, social workers, journalists, and government officials. Some are accomplished professionals, well-known in their fields and public figures in their communities. They are married, single, divorced, widowed. Many, though not all, are mothers themselves. Many contributors are baby boomers, in their 40s and 50s. Others are in their 60s, 70s, and 80s. (The oldest contributor is over 90; her conversation with her mother continues!)