Book Proposals

Surviving the Crash: Losing Those You Love

Logline: My parents lived to be in their 90s, and I thought I’d be prepared when they died. I wasn’t.  I knew I would outlive my dog, but I wasn’t prepared to do that either. This is my story of losing my parents and my first and only pet in one year. After my personal plane came crashing down, I was changed.  

Overview

One of the things that is crystal clear in this life is as we came into the world we will all go out. When that time will come is unknown. But, we will all die. Immortality is not an option. So, why is it that death is a topic that brings so many of us to our knees – at least for me, to my emotional knees?

I’m asking this question as I am not any better at death than anyone else. I’m not a therapist, and I’m not a medium with friends on the other side. I am simply someone who has taken a walk alongside death and survived.

Ultimately, the way the world works – the hope is we all leave in the order we came into it. If you are middle-aged and your parents are still alive, you may think you’re prepared for them to die. I know I thought I was. I wasn’t.

This is my story of surviving 2016 – the year I often refer to as the plane crash of all I knew to be true. On April 23, my mother died at the age of 90.  On July 24, my father passed away just shy of 96. On Oct. 25, I had to help my dog, Mocha, leave this world at the age of 12. Honestly, I feared what Jan. 26 would bring and found myself asking God to make it stop. 

In six months and two days, I had to say good-bye to my parents and my fur-baby. I’m not married, and I don’t have children. So, I found myself thinking of myself as an orphan that had to kill her only child. As horrible as that sounds, that’s how I felt. I was alone and sad. I was angry and lost. I felt guilty and betrayed at the same time. And, I didn’t know what to do with myself. I didn’t know who I was without these influences in my life. I just knew I wasn’t going to be the same.   

It’s two years later now, and it’s always a little easier to gain perspective on events after time passes, but I am still changed by death. I guess you could say I finally grew up.  Sad thing is … I thought I already had.

I know the plane crash analogy may seem over the top. But, it is truly how I described myself – not just the situation, but me – for more than a year. I’m hoping this book will help you land the plane before the crash or just give you comfort while you dig out of the emotional wreckage.