Saving Each Other
What would you do if the most important people in your world were suddenly and violently taken away from you? Everything is excruciating! Everything is broken! Ean Montgomery and Dani Adams were each forced to see the same grief counselor after a drunk driver killed both Dani’s husband and Ean’s wife and six year old son. Two cars demolished, two families killed. In an unconventional twist of therapy, Dani and Ean were each given a private cell phone and only the first initial of their first names. They were then instructed to reach out to one another in order to share their grief…to heal. The rules: Communicate only through text messages and never reveal our real names or other personal details. Neither planned to contact the other, but with all hope and the will to live gone… Over the course of a year, through texting alone, they form a unique bond. Friendship blossoms into something deeper. They were never supposed to meet, but fate had other plans, and into their world of loss and despair, something amazing began to grow… But can the can the passion they’ve found sustain itself with the deep, soul-twisting pain that never seems to fade? Join Ean and Dani on their journey as they discover that even in their darkest days, hope does exist and when tragedy turns your world upside down, the miracle of love can set everything right again.
My Review
What a lovely story of lost love and second chances. Author, Stacy Mitchell just tugged at my heart strings with this story. Dani and Ean were great. I loved that the only way that they interacted with one another in the beginning was through text. While, this form of communication is now being know as more "informal" in Dani and Ean's case it allowed them to open up with one another more freely.
The fact that they both experienced loss so fresh; allowed them to really relate to the other's situation and tap into their feelings. Again, I was in for the long haul from start, middle, and ending. Speaking of the ending, it was a joyous one. It left me with a smile. I look forward to reading more books by this author.
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Excerpt from Saving
Each Other by Stacy Mitchell
The place D and I have been forced to go for counseling is called “OUR
HOUSE Grief Support Center” and is about a half an hour away from my home. My
mom insisted on driving me. And while she hasn’t read anything about the
accident, she spent the entire ride, before my first session, alternating
between trying to force me to read the articles flooding the Internet and
trying to persuade me to attend the court proceedings. I’m not going to read
what some scumbag has to say about my family and I’ve made everyone promise
they won’t either. I’m also definitely
not going to the trial. The minute I see the man who murdered my family,
I’ll lose my shit and that wouldn’t be good for anyone,
especially me.
“OUR HOUSE” usually holds group sessions, but because our sessions are
court-mandated and high profile, D and I were able to meet separately with our
counselor, Elizabeth Macintyre, on a one-to-one basis.
Since we’re both barely hanging on by a thread, Beth did something very
extreme and very risky. She came up with the
idea that connecting us with one another could help us get through the grieving
process. Her thinking was that since we’re both going through the same thing,
we could potentially help each other. She explained to us—that to her—this was
worth the potential loss of her license.
She gave us each a new cell phone that contained only each other’s new
phone numbers along with the first letter of our first names. She wanted us to
have a dedicated line to one another and her only stipulations were that we
only communicate through text message and never reveal our real names or other
personal details. This I agreed to because I had absolutely no intention of ever contacting her.
Except today. Today I have to. So I turn on my phone and type:
D, this is E.
I can’t believe I’m actually doing this. I don’t see how it’s going to
change anything but I can’t stand this anymore. I’m at my breaking point. I’m
in constant pain. It feels like a huge band is crushing my chest and getting
tighter every day. All I do is cry! Everybody’s
been trying really hard to help get me through this, I know that. I just don’t
have it in me to give a shit.
I lost it with my mom yesterday. Said things no son should ever say to
his mother. All she did was ask me to move in with her, and I lost it. It got
so bad that she ran out of the house crying with a very mad Riley on her heels.
Sure she’s asked me before, but that’s no excuse. My dad laid into me, took Po,
and left. I’m now truly alone; being sucked into an inescapable vortex of
grief. I’m so lost.
They haven’t been by yet today and I hope they don’t come by at all;
this way I can die in peace. I’m falling down the rabbit hole very quickly and
that’s why I need to contact D, the only other
person who could possibly understand what I’m going through.
So I continue.
I wasn’t planning on contacting you, but here I am. I’m
sure you feel the same way since you haven’t reached out to me and I don’t
blame you if you don’t respond. It’s been almost a month since my world ended,
and let’s just say, unfortunately, suicide isn’t an option. Even though I
really wish it were.
I push aside my tears but not my pain; it refuses to leave. I take a
deep breath and keep typing.
I’m dying. With each second that passes, I keep dying
more and more. I never leave my house, I just sit near the door waiting for
their return. So yeah, I’m contacting you. Are you going through the same
thing? Why did this have to happen? How am I ever supposed to move on or
whatever the hell that even means.
Through my agony I type the plea that just might save my life.
I know I said I don’t blame you if you don’t respond,
but at the same time, I really need you to text me back. I’m scared, sad,
lonely, and extremely desperate.
Fifteen completely random facts about me
I’m
not a picky eater…most of the time. I hate coconut but I love macaroons. I hate
salmon but love lox. And, unlike Ean, mushrooms are one of my favorite foods. I
prefer candy over chocolate, cake over pie and frozen yogurt over ice cream. I
hate water, unless I’m really thirsty, and hate sweet drinks. Especially when
it has fake sugar in it…shudder.
I
am completely ambidextrous but was only able to carry my kids with my right
arm.
I
can read a full-length hardcover novel in five hours, but if you hand me the
same book in paperback, it takes me five days.
I
couldn’t watch the new Will and Grace until I saw all eight seasons of the old
one. So I’ve been on a five-month binge. Same goes with books. If I see a book that
looks interesting, and it’s part of a series, I always have to start at the
beginning—even if it’s a standalone.
I
absolutely hate biographical movies. I loved the Titanic until the boat hit the
iceberg. It ruined the whole story. What’s the point in seeing one if you know
how it ends?
I
hate walking on sidewalk, love walking on dirt. I can hike for three miles and
love every minute of it, but if you put me on the street, I’m complaining after
only three blocks. And don’t get me started on running! I don’t see the allure,
after three yards I’m in a snit.
I
believe in ghosts and want to develop my sixth sense so I can talk to them. BN
Toler’s Where One Goes, is one of my
all-time favorite books.
Karma
is my religion. How people treat you is their karma. How you react is yours.
Going back to BN Toler, I like To Have It
All, as much, if not more than Where
One Goes.
My
favorite room in my house is my bedroom. If I could live there 24/7, I would.
I
run fast and far from a spider and a bee, but can hold a snake or a mouse with
no problem.
I'm
a night person, I'd rather stay up late and sleep in the day. The only way I
like to see the sunrise is if I've been up all night. But when I do have to
wake up early, it usually takes me a good hour to find myself. My friends call
it aimless wandering or the Stacy shuffle.
I’m
a city girl through and through. I couldn’t live anywhere that shuts down
early. I usually don’t eat dinner until 9:00pm.
Markets
soothe me; I never bring a list. It’s much more fun to just wander up and down
each aisle. Whenever I go to the market
to get a couple of things, it ends up being more and I always end up going from
a hand held basket to a cart.
I’m
incredibly spontaneous. I hate scheduling things, and when I do, I usually don’t
make it. I was also born two-weeks late and have never changed. My friends call
it Stacy time and usually pad our meeting time.
My
favorite type of restaurant is a hole in the wall. I love traveling, and when I
do, those types of restaurants are usually what I search
for. There’s nothing worse that eating at a chain restaurant when an amazing
family owned restaurant is just around the corner. That’s why I include real
restaurants in my books.
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