A Mother’s Journey of Love, Death, and Forgiveness By: Jackie Loret de Mola Jackie Loret de Mola’s life was changed forever on September 22, 2017 when her thirty-three-year-old son Frank’s car was hit from behind at a stop in traffic and he later succumbed to his injuries. This book is a collection of her day-to-day journal entries and social media posts that provide an intimate glimpse into the pain and disbelief she felt in the days and weeks that followed. Her raw emotions and thoughts and her forgiveness of the driver are an inspiring testament to the power of faith and love. Above all, A Mother’s Journey of Love, Death, and Forgiveness conveys the love that a mother has for her child. Frank Loret de Mola’s life blessed everyone around him, and as an organ donor, he blessed four very sick people. She hopes her book will inspire readers to consider organ donation and to consider the brevity of life and the importance of loving our families.

On December 14, 2012, Scarlett Lewis experienced something that no parent should ever have to endure: she lost her son Jesse in an act of unimaginable violence. The day started just like any other, but when a gunman opened fire at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Scarlett’s life changed forever. However, this isn’t a story about a massacre. It’s a story about love and survival. It’s about how to face the impossible, how to find courage when you think you have none, and how to choose love instead of anger, fear, or hatred. Following Jesse’s death, Scarlett went on an unexpected journey, inspired by a simple three-word message he had scrawled on their kitchen chalkboard shortly before he died: Norurting Helin Love (Nurturing Healing Love). It was as if he knew just what his family would need in order to go on after this horrible tragedy. Bolstered by his words, Scarlett took her first step toward a new life. And with each step, it became clearer how true Jesse’s message was. She learned that love was indeed the essential element necessary to move forward and that taking the path of love is a choice. We can live in anger and resentment, or we can choose love and forgiveness. With her decision made, she found some peace and began to believe that choosing love was the key to creating a healthy, safe, and happy world. She began the Jesse Lewis Choose Love Foundation to develop programs to teach children about the power each of us has to change our thoughts and choose a life without fear and hate. Nurturing Healing Love is Scarlett’s story of how choosing love is changing her life—and how it could change our world.

Sooner or later we all arrive at a moment in our lives that seems all too big for us. How will you deal with yours? It Doesn't End Here will prepare you for that moment when it comes. This is a message of incredible light in the midst of all consuming darkness. -Matthew Kelly, New York Times bestselling author of The Rhythm of Life and The Dream Manager Struggling to find meaning out of the unimaginable circumstances that lead to her son s tragic death, Dawn Marie strove daily to put back together the shattered remains of her life one second at a time. Six months into the journey of her great torment Dawn s mother hands her a newspaper article which lead to a discovery that would dramatically alter her life and the lives of many others. In this true story of pain and sorrow is found an amazing love of a mother for her son and an enduring faith in an ever present loving God. -Fr. Donald Calloway, Author of No Turning Back: A Witness To Mercy It Doesn t End Here by Dawn Marie Roeder is an extraordinary chronicle which I read in one sitting; I simply could not put it down. -Elena Maria Vidal author of Trianon: A Novel of Royal France The life lessons learned from this book are invaluable! - Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers, The Deacon's Heart Blog, July 8, 2011

“If our families are to flourish, we will need to learn and practice ways of forgiving those who have had the greatest impact upon us: our mothers and fathers.” Do you struggle with the deep pain of a broken relationship with a parent? Leslie Leyland Fields and Dr. Jill Hubbard invite you to walk with them as they explore the following questions: What does the Bible say about forgiveness? Why must we forgive at all? How do we honor those who act dishonorably toward us, especially when those people are as influential as our parents? Can we ever break free from the “sins of our fathers”? What does forgiveness look like in the lives of real parents and children? Does forgiveness mean I have to let an estranged parent back into my life? Is it possible to forgive a parent who has passed away? Through the authors’ own compelling personal stories combined with a fresh look at the Scriptures, Forgiving Our Fathers and Mothers illustrates and instructs in the practice of authentic forgiveness, leading you away from hate and hurt toward healing, hope, and freedom. "A call to very hard, but very vital, work of the soul." —Dr. Henry Cloud, leadership expert, psychologist, and best-selling author "Forgiving Our Fathers and Mothers is essential reading for anyone who wants to deal with those hurts in a constructive, healing, and God-honoring manner." —Jim Daly, president, Focus on the Family "Leslie Leyland Fields and Jill Hubbard take us into raw, messy stories so we can be transformed by that mysterious and painful grace in the force called forgiveness." —Scot McKnight, Northern Seminary

In the vein of The Glass Castle, Breaking Night is the stunning memoir of a young woman who at age fifteen was living on the streets, and who eventually made it into Harvard. Liz Murray was born to loving but drug-addicted parents in the Bronx. In school she was taunted for her dirty clothing and lice-infested hair, eventually skipping so many classes that she was put into a girls' home. At age fifteen, Liz found herself on the streets. She learned to scrape by, foraging for food and riding subways all night to have a warm place to sleep. When Liz's mother died of AIDS, she decided to take control of her own destiny and go back to high school, often completing her assignments in the hallways and subway stations where she slept. Liz squeezed four years of high school into two, while homeless; won a New York Times scholarship; and made it into the Ivy League. Breaking Night is an unforgettable and beautifully written story of one young woman's indomitable spirit to survive and prevail, against all odds.

"Why God? Why does a child have to die when murderers and rapists and terrorists get to live? Why take a four-year-old who was innocent and full of pure love?" These are the questions that haunted author Krista Bennett-Bruns after the heartbreaking loss of her young son, Sutton. After Sutton's death, Krista encountered a barrage of agonizing emotions: Intense grief and pain over being separated from her son too soon. Rage and disgust toward the first responders who had jeopardized Sutton's chances of survival by refusing the help of doctors on the scene. Anger toward the hospital staff who had kept her from holding her son after his death. Disgust and hate toward herself for not being able to save Sutton. In Living Beneath the Surface: My Journey through Love, Loss, and Forgiveness, Krista shares her story of walking down the path of these ugly emotions for days, weeks, and years after her son's death, unafraid to reveal the darkness of the journey. But as Krista shows in her heart-touching memoir, sharing everything from Sutton's death to her exhausting battle with a serious medical illness, darkness cannot overcome the light of Christ, who shines brightly even in the darkest of moments through the power of forgiveness and renewed purpose. Join Krista on the journey as she peels back the layers of her life and pours out her heart through her story, a story that shows that God has a full-circle purpose for your life regardless of the trials you go through along the way.

How is life now that mom is gone? How are you getting by? Have you been able to move forward and are you the best version of yourself? Is her memory alive and well? How have your relationships with family turned out? If you had blame or guilt, have you handled forgiveness in a healthy way? If you're anything like me, you may feel that life has really robbed you of so much love and possibility by taking your mom away prematurely. Are you brave enough to dig deeper to find peace again? Are you one of the strong, brave women who desires to go inward to heal, forgive, and live a successful life filled with fulfillment and gratitude? These guided insights will help examine your relationship with your mom, discover forgotten memories of her death, embrace her teachings, and learn to accept apologies and practice forgiveness in order to keep her alive. If you're willing to dig deeper to truly heal from losing your mom, then come take the journey! This is a powerful read for those that haven't lost their moms yet, too. Mothers are finding that the insights and "dig deepers" provide them with things to ponder while they're still alive. There are many stories that may encourage conversations before it's too late. Daughters can learn from my personal experience to embrace emotions, confront feelings and learn from my mistakes before unforeseen loss happens. Thank you very much for sharing your feedback by reviewing on Amazon after reading so more people can forgive, heal and keep mom's memory alive!