Reaching for Beautiful
A Memoir of Loving and Losing a Wild Child
When Sally learns that her twenty-one-year-old son Christopher died tragically in a boat accident, her greatest fear is realized. Christopher was often drawn to risk to risk and struggled with addiction, and in this riveting memoir, Sally captures the wild ride of his jam-packed life and her deep love for him while also reflecting on her own childhood and family legacy of alcoholism.
This book is for any parent raising a child from the edge of their seat, or for those suffering the trauma of losing a child. Sally shares insights about what it’s like to experience the emotional aftershocks of acute grief, and readers may see themselves in Sally’s bittersweet illusion of trying to keep Christopher safe; in how she is challenged to let go of her fear, guilt, and regret in order to forgive herself; and in the ways grief teaches her about the power of love. Reaching for Beautiful is a luminous story of how love triumphs over pain, love transcends fear, and love never dies.