Finding 40: A Mother's Walk With Grief

by Chalese Stevens

Overview

Chalese Stevens faced every mother's worst nightmare in June of 2004. She lost her four-year-old son when he drowned in a water park swimming pool. From that day forward, motherhood changed into a nautical journey through loss and grief.  This grieving mother has been able to face her devastating loss by turning her story into the raw and vulnerable pages of this book.  She takes you through the painful emotions of child loss and how she handled her grief. Stevens captures the raw and dark side she endured throughout her loss and how she embraced motherhood once again. She admits that this healing journey will be a lifelong process, and everyone walks a path that is unique to them. This book, "Finding 40: A Mother's Walk With Grief," is about how her individualized healing journey has consisted of the help and love she was given, along with the support and love Stevens' gives to others. She not only comforts those who are suffering from loss and grief but also fighting for lives not yet taken through her Utah based nonprofit organization, Rainy Days Foundation. Her healing journey is a light to so many walking a similar path of not just child loss, but to inspire hope for anyone suffering the loss of a loved one.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781513659206
Publisher:	Rainy Days Foundation
Publication date:	05/08/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	120
File size:	10 MB

About the Author

Chalese Stevens faced a horrific tragedy in June of 2004 when she lost her four-year-old son in a water park drowning accident. Her healing journey has consisted of helping others along the way, not only grieving losses of their own but also fighting for lives not yet taken. She formed a nonprofit organization, Rainy Days Foundation. Because of her big heart and the fact that her son donated his heart valves when he passed, she has connected with families who are battling heart disease with their children and brings them to hope through their darkest storms.
Chalese is blessed with two more beautiful children that she is continuously creating memories with and making sure she documents each moment. She is a light to so many with her big heart, infectious laugh, and passion for living her life today, for she knows that tomorrow is never a guarantee. Along with running her nonprofit, she is the host of her podcast Coffee Talk Tuesday and author of an adventure blog and "The Adventures of Bug" children's books.

Table of Contents

Dedication......................................iii
Contents.......................................... v
Note to Readers......................... vii
Purpose............................................. 1
40!...................................................... 3
Confused......................................... 7
My Living Nightmare.................. 9
Perspective of an Angel............11
The Accident................................13
Just Paper and a Pen................21
Misery.............................................25
Sifting Through...........................27
The Dark Days..............................31
Africa..............................................35
Homecoming...............................39
My School......................................41
The Night I Lost My Mind........43
The Lawsuit..................................47
Why?.............................................. 49
The Lifeguard...............................51
Finding the Light........................55
Lost, Angry, and Alone............57
Mother’s Day Memories............61
An Angel’s Mother’s Day.........63
My Rose.........................................65
Love.................................................69
Feel It...............................................71
California.......................................75
My Rainbow Baby......................79
Never-ending Cycles.................81
Baby Boy.......................................85
Mom Guilt.......................................91
My Purpose...................................93
Connection...................................97
Heart Warriors........................... 101
I Am...............................................105
Final Thoughts..........................109

Editorial Reviews

Finding 40 is a beautifully obscured collection of thoughts, poetry, letters, and raw emotions weaved together in a way that touches the reader and awakens a wholehearted empathic connection. This book lets you into a distinctive grief process that speaks loudly to the necessity of the individual healing journey. The author connects naturally to the deep therapeutic work that accompanies grief, loss, and trauma teaching to appreciate the darkness and still welcome the light, showing the wisdom in our rawness, and always allowing room for hope.

As a therapist and a mom, I recommend this book to anyone struggling with grief and loss, the shame and guilt that comes with being a parent, and those who are seeking recovery of any kind.

~ Meg Martinez-Dettamanti, M.S., LCMHC, CSAT, EMDR-Trained

In her vulnerable and wrenching memoir, Chalese Stevens steps boldly into a mother’s worst nightmare, the day her son, four-year-old Kaleb, drowned. Chalese takes readers through fourteen years of anger, sorrow, guilt, dysfunction, and healing, to the moment she heard Kaleb’s gentle voice whisper, “My accident happened because it was the only way for us to be able to help so many.” Chalese now helps others heal. For those who have suffered profound loss, this book is a must-read. Thanks, Chalese.

JEFF O’DRISCOLL, MD FACEP I Exist to Help Souls Heal Physician

Spiritual Mentor

Speaker

From the Publisher