bereavement | Leslie A. Lindsay| Writer & Creative

Does lightening strike twice? Sometimes. Here, Nancy Freund Bills talks about this, healing after loss, complicated grief, and so much more in her award-winning memoir, THE RED RIBBON

By Leslie Lindsay Clear, incisive memoir about death, grief, and the power to survive, THE RED RIBBON is a tender and tragic exploration of one woman’s experience. Memoir has such power to shape and inform and this is why it’s one of my very favorite genres. THE RED RIBBON opens with author Nancy Freund Bills’s experience growing up in Montana–the rolling hills, the great expanse of sky, and yet, those out-of-the-blue tragic storms that swept in from the west. And then, many years later, in 1994, Nancy, now a New Englander, is notified that her son, Teddy, and recently-separated husband, Geoff, are caught in a freak thunderstorm. They have both been hit by lightning, one survives. This staggering news shocks and makes its way throughout several newspapers, affecting locals and family alike. But THE RED RIBBON isn’t just about this horrific accident. It’s about navigating the effects of grief. It’s about family and culture, customs, and the past. Nancy not only loses her husband, but also her father, later her mother, and mother-in-law. She goes through a series of …

‘Life is hard, joy is simple,’ Lannette Cornell Bloom talks about her insatiable need to write about her mother, magic in death, and living a mindful life

Published by Always with a Book

By Leslie Lindsay Simple beauty in the overwhelming task of caring for a dying parent, Lannette Cornell Bloom, RN, renders a gorgeous narrative about living life to the fullest. You will be utterly surprised to learn MEMORIES IN DRAGONFLIES (September 1 2018) is the author’s first book. Lannette Cornell Bloom was a typical over-worked mother, wife, and school nurse, when she got the call that her mother was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis, a slow decline in which the lungs gradually fill with scar tissue, in effect, suffocating the person. After careful consideration, Lannette decides to quit her job to care for her mother and maintain her parent’s home full time. What results is a tender vulnerability filled with unexpected moments, an awakening about her mother, the lessons imparted to Lannette and her sister, and so much more. Written eloquently in first person, MEMORIES IN DRAGONFLIES is ultimately a memoir that reads as though it could be a novel. It’s not long and can easily be finished in one sitting. It’s not exactly a how-to-guide for caring for an ill loved …