A book that took a lot of courage to write - "It's Like Here Only Better" by Robin Landry

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Sometimes you come across a book and you can feel the emotion that the author poured into it.  When it is fiction, that quality really makes the characters seem to leap from the page.  When it is non-fiction - the effect is to pull the reader into to pages instead.  When it is non-fiction that deals with a tragic event involving a mother's loss - it really makes the reader wonder how Landry was able to put into words what she went through.

Landry recounts the tragic accident that took her son too quickly from the world and some of the events that have occurred afterwards to give her signs that  her son, Tim, was trying to communicate with her and his friends.  

I know some people might dismiss this as "seeing what you want to see" and making connections that aren't there.  Having lost a younger brother much too early, I can say that I went through a period where I thought I was going crazy with some of the "signs" that I was coming across.  At first, I tried to rationalize that I was looking for things and making connections.  But after things kept happening, I have opened myself up to other possibilities.  

Landry has given tribute to not only her son's memory in this book, but has given a gift to all of Tim's family and friends by documenting ways and signs that her son has given them to let them know that "It's Like Here Only Better" where he is at.  It is obvious from the pages that this book was a labor of love, and I feel that it delivers a message and story that hopefully the readers can just read about and never have to experience.

For those of us who have experienced a sudden loss of a significant person in our lives, this book will have you walking through all of the different stages of the experience again.  In some ways, it was difficult - but in many more ways, this book let me know that what I went through and some of the experiences I have had afterwards might be more of the rule instead of the exception.

I would like to personally thank Robin Landry for sharing her experiences with others so that they may know that they aren't alone in what they are going through.

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(This book was given to Movies and Manuscripts as a gift to review.  This does not affect the review that was provided in any manner.)