Shadow Living…Paintings of Grief
Paperback
Publisher: Harobed House
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0978789709
ISBN-13: 978-0978789701
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Available online at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Borders, Books-A-Million, Walden's Books, Borders, Target and the publisher Harobed House.
Shadow Living…Paintings of Grief is the enthralling sequel to I Feel Okay, Deborah Slappey Pitts’ debut bestseller. Deborah, takes you into Clyde's world as he dealt with his sickness. She is very poignant in her description and it is a must read for everyone going through struggles of life. Shadow Living…Paintings of Grief is a story of love, faith and determination. It's a touching story that truly shows the meaning of for better or worse, and sickness and in health, that is stated in the marriage vows. It shows a woman of strength, courage and faith who wanted to do all she could to find answers for her husband during his time of suffering.
Editorial Reviews
Shadow Living is an excellent story of a survivor, written for survivors. --William Phenn of Reader Views.
Shadow Living promises to give readers hope that they too can come face-to-face with and heal from grief. D.L. Carpenter, President of Creative Ink.
"Deborah tells a sad, yet compelling story." Cheryl Dunlop, editor and author, Follow Me As I Follow Christ and Complete Idiot's Guide to the World of Narnia (September 2007).
Product Description
Grief is a universal phenomenon. Possibly every minute, every hour even every day of the year, someone is grieving the loss of a loved one. It can be the death of a spouse, a daughter, a son, a sister or a brother, even a grandparent, or a friend no matter what the relationship, no matter how close or how distant, grief rears its ugly head with merciless, menacing pain and with piercing precision. Sooner or later, grief tears through the clutches of time and leaves the griever saddled with the deafening silence of losing a loved one to death.
Shadow Living...Paintings of Grief continues where author, Deborah Slappey Pitts paused in her debut book, I Feel Okay (May 2005), where she superbly describes her family's desperate attempt to find a physician who would help her husband, the late Clyde Slappey find a cure for the menacing primary amyloidosis disease. Pitts and Clyde made it to the Mayo Clinic, their place of hope, but sadly, Clyde dies within two weeks of receiving a life-saving heart transplant. Now in the enthralling sequel to I Feel Okay, Shadow Living...Paintings of Grief, Pitts shares her intimate story of pain and despair as she reaches through the darkest crevices of her shadowy world of grief, holding onto God s unchanging hand. Pitts describes how she grapples between two worlds her new reality of living in a world without her husband and a faux reality where she tries desperately to hold onto precious memories as husband and wife. Pitts prays earnestly to God to bring her husband back to her and the children.
But deep inside, Pitts knows her husband won t be coming back. Out of the depths of her agonizing despair of becoming a widow at age 40, Pitts makes a heartfelt fight to live again in a new world without the sunshine of her life. Her story is very powerful in content. The reader is consumed into Pitts shadowy world of grieving and empathizes with her anguish and despair through every intricate word. Pitts story of survival is for survivors around the world and her story instantly connects with readers as they witness her brave fight with grief. Pitts describes grief as a superficial entity that takes a life of its own through suffering and pain. She instantly connects with her reader, capturing their heart while she meticulously describes the perplexing stages of grieving that she experiences during her first year living as a widow.
Pitts recounts her pain-filled days and nights of crying out in the darkness, praying anxiously for God to console and protect her and her children. With God as her refuge and strength, Pitts emerges from the shadows of grief to a life of renewed hope. Now her mission is to serve as a beacon of light and inspiration of hope and healing to others. It's a must read an unforgettable story; It s a must read an unforgettable story; written with candor, soul, and love.
Table of Contents:
Part One…Leaving Clyde Behind
Chapter One…Leaving Clyde Behind
Chapter Two…The Long Ride Home
Chapter Three…When Darkness Falls
Chapter Four…Feeling Out of Place
Chapter Five…Lord, Where Do I Go from Here?
Chapter Six…Retreat into the Shadows
Part Two…Living Within the Shadows
Chapter Seven…Returning to Work
Chapter Eight…He’s in My Dreams
Chapter Nine…At the Grocery Store
Chapter Ten…Our 22nd Wedding Anniversary
Chapter Eleven…Endless Days and Nights
Part Three…Learning to Live Again
Chapter Twelve…Working Through Grief
Chapter Thirteen…Lord, Help Me Find My Way Back
Chapter Fourteen…The Holidays Without Him
Chapter Fifteen…Coping With Reality
Chapter Sixteen…Learning to Live Without Him
Chapter Seventeen…Shadow Living…Paintings of Grief
Chapter Eighteen…A Closer Look at Grief
One Last Letter
An Amyloidosis Update
Rave Reviews
"Shadow Living is an excellent story of a survivor, written for survivors.”--William Phenn, Reader Views
“Shadow Living…Paintings of Grief,” tells of what it is like to lose a spouse. Deborah Slappey Pitts lost her husband to Amyloidosis disease. Pitts takes us through her personal experience of becoming a widow at forty-years of age. In telling her story, she reaches out to others who have gone, or are going, through the grieving process of losing a loved one. In addition to telling her personal story, she also discusses the stages of grief. I believe that this is incredibly important for people to read, so that they can understand the myriad of emotions that they will be experiencing.
When reading “Shadow Living,” I discovered that it felt more like Pitts was in the room with me telling her story, than I was reading words. She vividly describes her experience in such a way that you are picturing, and feeling it, not just staring at words. It was very difficult not to tear up while reading her story. My heart went out her. She was a wife and a mother who all of a sudden had to learn to redefine her role.
I admired her for hanging on to her faith and putting God first. At times her prayers were heart wrenching. Having gone through the break up of a fifteen-year marriage myself, this grief brought back memories of my own grieving, and the moments where I begged God for things to be different. I truly believe that her incredible faith helped her survive through this ordeal. She also sought out help and went through the counseling process. When she entered into group therapy and heard other people’s stories, she was able to connect to them and relate. She also experienced physical problems because of her emotional pain. It is really important for the grievers to know that this can happen and that if they don’t care for themselves properly, they can really become ill.
The book is divided into several sections. Pitts’ experience is separated into three parts. She also offers resources through endnotes, a recommended reading list, an update on Amyloidosis, references and a discussion guide. People that will benefit from “Shadow Living…Paintings of Grief,” include those affected by Amyloidosis, people who have lost loved ones, and grieving groups. This book is a perfect tool for those in grief therapy, both individual and group. The groups would especially benefit from the discussion questions. Even though I was divorced instead of widowed, I found that I could relate to a lot of what Pitts went through after her husband passed on. The stages of grief were the same. She lost her husband physically and emotionally, I lost the dream of what I thought my husband was. Pitts definitely suffered a greater loss than mine; however, as I read, I felt that women going through divorces could also benefit from this book. The main thing we all have to learn is that life does go on and if you hang on to your faith and take care of yourself, it definitely does get better.
Reviewed by Paige Lovitt, Reader Views
Rave Reviews
SHADOW LIVING: Paintings of Grief by Deborah Slappey Pitts is a vivid description of what it really means to lose a loved one. Clyde Slappey was stricken with primary amyloidosis, a disease of the immune system, and when he was first diagnosed, after months of seeing doctor after doctor, there seemed to be no cure. Clyde and Deborah had been married for twenty-one years when the disease finally took him from her. Even though he was at the Mayo Clinic waiting for a heart transplant, death came to him sooner.
This book is Deborah's story of living with the grief of having lost her soul mate. She gives the seven stages of grief: shock, denial, anger, fear, bargaining, depression and acknowledgement. Her anger was interesting in that she was so angry with Clyde for leaving her and his two sons, Clyde Daryl and Alex Keith. In her deep grief, she felt as if he could have held on longer - at least long enough to get a heart transplant.
SHADOW LIVING is a book that would surely help anyone going through the loss of a dearly loved mate. Deborah tells of her sleepless nights, her attempts to hide her deep depression from her friends and loved ones, of finally seeking help for herself and her son, Alex Keith. Her words are emotional and deep and I felt as if I, too, had known Clyde and had witnessed him as a father and husband.
Reviewed by Alice Holman, The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers
About Harobed House…Edifying the World Thru Words
Deborah Slappey Pitts is the President of Harobed House, a small press, independent publisher of Christian and inspirational-based nonfiction, fiction, and self-help books that edify and inspire the reader.
The mission of Harobed House is to provide the reader with thought-provoking, inspirational stories and topics that strive to make a positive difference and stimulate the reader’s view of significant topics that impact today’s society. Books are published under the following imprints under Harobed House.
The Innisfree imprint offers nonfiction inspirational titles such as I Feel Okay, Shadow Living…Paintings of Grief, and Heart Warmers. The fictional arm of Harobed House carries the Surreal imprint. Novels published under this imprint will include Mind Wars and Sins of Their Fathers.
The self-help arm of Harobed House offers the Foresight imprint and includes Yes, I am My Brother’s Keeper, Living with Alzheimer’s, and The Things My Mama Taught Me!?
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SLS Health and Healing Spotlight
Author Deborah Slappey-Pitts
2007 YOUnity Guild Book of the Year Award
2007 National “Best Books” Awards Finalist
Deborah Slappey Pitts is the author of national best-seller and the 2007 Infini’s best autobiography award for I Feel Okay, a heart-wrenching account of love, loss, and inspiration. The sequel, Shadow Living…Paintings of Grief, honored recently as the 2007 YOUnity Guild Best Book of the Year Award and a 2007 National “Best Books” Awards Finalist. Her new book is also listed in the January 2008 Book Watch of the Midwest Book Review.
A native of Americus , Georgia , Pitts travels the country as an inspirational speaker educating others about the devastating effects of amyloidosis diseases and the physiological and psychological effects of grief. Pitts is a member of the Church of Christ and is affiliated with the Christian Writer’s Institute, PMA, the Independent Publishers Association, and SPAN (Small Publishers Association of North America). Pitts has two sons, Clyde Daryl and Alex Keith, and resides in Columbus , Georgia , with her second husband, Marshall Pitts.
To learn more about her journey and this rare disease, visit www.dslappeypitts.com
Deborah Slappey Pitts
National Best Selling; Award-Winning Author
Shadow Living…Paintings of Grief (2007)
2007 YOUnity Guild Book of the Year Award
2007 National “Best Books” Awards Finalist
RAWSISTAZ-TRR Favorite, 5.0 All-Star rating
Reader Views, 5.0 All-star rating
I Feel Okay (2005)
2007 Infini’s Literary Best Autobiography Award
Booking Matters National Bestseller
Deborah Slapppey Pitts
Harobed House
1-866-561-1598
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