"Nurturing Healing Love: A Mother’s Journal of Hope & Forgiveness by Scarlett Lewis and Natasha Stoynoff

I have been thinking about my sister-in-law Jen a lot lately because she is not only one of my favorite people, but she is also a big reader. When we are together, I will mention a fabulous new book I have just read, and she will have read it a month ago. Several years ago, she gave me this book “Nurturing Healing Love” by Scarlett Lewis and Natasha Stoynoff. She knows the author who lives nearby Jen in Connecticut. I inadvertently put the book on my bedside table, which was a big mistake. My bedside table is like a Nancy Meyer movie set: The books look pretty but they never get read. The books that get read are the ones in my bottomless purse or heavy computer bag, and also the ones that are wedged between the seats of my car, so I can read before I go into yoga class. To be honest I was a little afraid to read this book, too, because of its tragic subject matter. Scarlett’s book recounts the story of how her son Jesse was killed in the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, Connecticut, on December 14, 2012. A 20-year-old man shot and killed twenty children, 6 and 7 year olds, and six adult staff members. I remember I was driving when I heard the news on the radio in 2012, and I was so upset I had to pull over to the curb. I couldn’t imagine how something like this could happen. But despite my apprehension, Jen kept saying “You have to read it. The story is about signs. There were signs before Jesse died and signs after.” So, one day I tossed this book in my car, and I picked it up and read it in two days. I could not put it down.  Scarlett and co-writer Natasha, describe the chilling events of that awful day, and while the book is about loss and grief, it is also about love and hope. The most interesting part of the book is indeed the signs. Shortly before his death, Jesse drew a picture in which he had angel wings on and was standing beside a dark figure. To look at this picture after his death, you can’t help but see Jesse standing next to the gunman.  Days before he was gunned down, Jesse drew this phrase on the kitchen chalk board with phonetic spelling: “Norurting helin love.” He also drew “I love you” in the mist of a car window for his mother the day before he was shot. There are people who believe and follow signs, and I am one of them. Jesse was a hero, who helped save the lives of some of his friends, too. Several months after his death, Scarlett found the courage to give Jesse’s bed to another family. As she was preparing the bed, she found a pair of Jesse’s pajamas stuck under the mattress. She said finding them was another sign of his presence and also “A gift.” I think this book is a gift as well. Scarlett created the Jesse Lewis Choose Love Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to helping children and adults choose love over anger.  I’m sorry it took me so long to read her book but I hope that others will join me in reading it, too.  To purchase this book on Amazon click here.