Alamosa Public Library

When Helen Macdonald's father died suddenly on a London street, she was devastated. An experienced falconer - Helen had been captivated by hawks since childhood - she'd never before been tempted to train one of the most vicious predators, the goshawk. But in her grief, she saw that the goshawk's fierce and feral temperament mirrored her own. Resolving to purchase and raise the deadly creature as a means to cope with her loss, she adopted Mabel, and...

An old woman who has outlived all her friends is reluctant to become too attached to the stray dog that visits her each day. An old woman discovers an abandoned puppy that she is afraid to name--or to even love. This moving story features Gary Larson-esque "(The Far Side)" visuals that will appeal to adults as well as kids. How does an old woman who has outlived all her friends keep from being lonely? By naming the things in her life she knows she...

Words of comfort and hope after the loss to death of a loved one

Lexi Behrndt is the author of the popular blog Scribbles and Crumbs and the founder of The On Coming Alive Project. Her work has been featured on various websites including TODAY.com, The Washington Post, Disney's Babble, The Huffington Post, and many more. Lexi's infant son passed away at the age of 6.5 months old from a rare heart and lung condition. Since then, Lexi has candidly been sharing her grief journey through her writing. On Coming Alive:...

"What are you reading?" That's the quest Will Schwalbe asks his mother, Mary Anne, as they sit in the waiting room of the Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. In 2007, Mary Anne returned from a humanitarian trip to Pakistan and Afghanistan suffering from what her doctors believed was a rare type of hepatitis. Months later she was diagnosed with a form of advanced pancreatic cancer. This is the inspiring story of a son and his mother, who start a "book club"...

"On June 4th, 2019, country music singer Granger Smith was enjoying a final evening with his kids before heading to Nashville for the CMT Music Awards and his next tour. While helping his daughter London with her gymnastics, his youngest son fell into their pool. Granger did everything he could to get to him, but he was too late. River drowned, and Granger's world shattered. The days, weeks, and months that followed River's death sent Granger on...

"After the sudden death of his wife, Maida, Gene is haunted by the fear that their marriage was not all it appeared to be. Alongside Ed and Gayle Donnelly, friends since college days, he tries to resurrect happy memories of the times the two couples shared, raising their children in a small New Hampshire town and vacationing together at a lake house every summer. Meanwhile, his daughter, Dary, challenges not only his happy version of the past but...

"A divinity professor and young mother with a Stage IV cancer diagnosis explores the pain and joy of living without certainty. Thirty-five-year-old Kate Bowler was a professor at the school of divinity at Duke, and had finally had a baby with her childhood sweetheart after years of trying, when she began to feel jabbing pains in her stomach. She lost thirty pounds, chugged antacid, and visited doctors for three months before she was finally diagnosed...

Presenting the idea of wilderness as a sustained metaphor for grief, this compassionate guide explores the unique responses inherent to the grief felt by those who have experienced the suicide of a loved one and offers information about coping with such a profound loss. Likening the death of a loved one to the experience of being wrenched from normal life and dropped down in the middle of nowhere, the handbook employs 10 touchstones, or trail markers,...

In the middle of her son's tenth birthday party, Jenene Holcomb received the call. Her beloved husband, Lee, had received his diagnosis: an aggressive cancer of the liver with multiple tumors. How could she survive as the primary caregiver of her beloved husband while simultaneously nurturing two children? Everyone eventually suffers loss-a spouse, a parent, a child, a weather disaster that takes a home, a divorce. No one is immune. In this book,...