And then there are authors I wish to witness. To sit in their quiet resilience, to witness that tenacity, learn from their faith and to honour their gift.
Maryanne O'Hara, author of ‘Little Matches’, is one of these writers. ‘Little Matches’ is the story of Caitlin O’Hara, daughter of Maryanne and Nick O’Hara. Caitlin had cystic fibrosis since birth and survived for 33 years. Phew!
In this book, Maryanne takes us through the journey of grieving her daughter. Initially, they (Caitlin and Maryanne) documented their journey on a blog. But after the death of Caitlin, Maryanne wrote this book, a book about grief, sickness, gut feelings, afterlife and spirituality.
Let's start with what I knew and didn't know about the book. In Nanyuki, there's a community-based organisation called The Leo Project. I knew TLP as a place for youths to hang out, learn and share skills, and a hub for fast Internet speeds.
I later found out TLP built a medical clinic in Jua Kali Nanyuki that offers mental health services.
Two weeks ago, Wine and Spine gave me this book. You and I know I had books on my TBR for November, but who doesn't love shiny things? Who doesn't love a new thing? A free gift? A book, especially one as captivating as this!
Ideally, I thought I'd read the preface and pick it up later, but as I found myself and redefined spirituality, the book was inviting and interesting. Interesting because, if someone lost their child, why would they still choose to believe? If someone was sick all their life, why would they choose to believe?
Perhaps my brain, unable to process the grief and sadness that comes with death, is choosing to focus on spirituality. I remember asking a friend, how do you move on from losing a child? Do you ever recover?
In the preface, Maryanne mentions the book is written in chronological order as documented on her blog series, email and journals she could find.
While Caitlin was admitted at Boston Children’s Hospital, she and other patients were glad to have Prouty Garden, located at the hospital. Research shows nature, the foods we eat and a support system helps us navigate the toughest of times. Support systems could come in the form of our spirituality, self-belief and family.
As I shy away from crying a third time, it's clear that art (in this case writing), nature (Prouty Garden and the mobile nature clinic) and spirituality held Maryanne O'Hara together through this period.
How do TLP and this book relate? The Leo Project was started in honour of Caitlin by her friend Jess Danforth, founder and executive director.
Remember my understanding of TLP as a cool place to hang out and learn? As documented in this book, Caitlin loved art. From the poems she shared, the short stories she wrote, her taste and knowledge in music to her being an art history major and graphic designer.
The Leo Project was started to honour the memory of Caitlin by offering similar tools to those she used to navigate life for 33 years.
The writing, although I knew this was a memoir, sounded like a fiction book. It had enticing, well structured sentences and purposeful paragraphs.
I loved the emails and text message snippets included in the conversations. The style used painted a clearer picture of who Caitlin was with minimal third-person narration.
As a lover of fiction and fiction alone, and a believer that everything else belongs in a one-hour documentary (I'm judging the self-help readers), if all memoirs were written this way, maybe I'd read them more.
As sad as the book was, the language made it easier to keep reading. Even grief couldn't hide her talent, her ability to merge words and create beautiful sentences.
From this book, I have a to-do list: Meet Maryanne O'Hara (so, so glad I’ll get to see her at Tamasha; yes, we have literature events in Nanyuki); hug or water that majestic tree at The Leo Project; and learn, relearn choosing faith.
