Review: The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Audiobook produced in 2015 by St. Martin's Press

This has to be one of my favorite books. I just couldn't stop listening to it and I've recommended that we read it for my book club, Vermont Books n Brews, for our January 2017 discussion because I'm so in need of discussing this story with other book lovers. I'm sitting in my car right now with tears streaming down my face because it was that emotional. I just had to finish listening to the last 10 minutes of the story to get closure. And closure I got. The ending wasn't what I was expecting or hoping for, but I'm so glad there was some sort of closure. The closure I was hoping for wasn't the realistic, natural way of things in life, and Kristin Hannah has an innate ability of making a fiction story so realistic feeling and relatable.

I enjoyed the fact that the majority of the story was like a flashback but it wasn't necessarily written that way. It was a 3rd person story that switched back and forth between Viann and her sister, Isabelle, about the girls lives during the war. Viann's present day life at the beginning of the book left me wanting more details of the rest of the family.

This is such a heartbreaking story, yet a true testament to the strength of the human spirit.

When softball was discontinued as an Olympic Sport

This article says it all - http://www.vox.com/2016/7/13/12067548/olympics-jennie-finch

Many of you know how important softball is to me. From the age of 8, I developed many life long friendships that lasted through the middle school and high school years - a time that's notorious for being difficult. Softball, because of my teammates, made those years easier. We learned how to pick each other up on and off the field. We learned in time that an important loss, no matter how painful in the moment, wasn't the end of the world. We learned how to celebrate each player's individual victories, and those as a team. Those lessons somehow naturally translated over to life off the field.

I was 10 in 1996 when softball became an Olympic sport for the first time. From there on out I wanted to play for Team USA. Other things eventually became more important, but watching Jennie Finch live my dream was like a dream in of itself. Watching the team lose to Beijing in 2008 was heartbreaking. And just when we thought it couldn't get any worse, softball  was discontinued as an Olympic sport. I was pissed. It was like, as Jennie says, a step backwards for female athletes.

Beautiful World

I decided to take a long weekend to spend some time with family and friends whom I haven't seen in years. I'm out in Salt Lake City, Utah for a friend's wedding. We're enjoying the beauty that Mother Nature has to offer here at the campsite. Although I'm unaccustomed to the elevation, and it's taking a toll on my breathing, I'm loving the view.

Reflections - Learning to Love Again

It's been awhile since I've posted anything on here. Life has changed so much just in the last year. Yesterday, March 2, marked a milestone I never thought would happen - it was the 2 year anniversary of a close friend's sudden death from an aneurysm. I think about him all the time, everyday. Not a day goes by that he doesn't cross my mind so the anniversary of his death was only different in that it gave me the opportunity to reflect on the time that's passed.

I never thought I'd feel the way I did yesterday. I was sad, yet I wasn't grieving. I didn't know how it could ever get easier to deal with his absence or the pain of losing him so suddenly...but it has gotten easier. I now recognize that it wasn't the end of the world for me. I've come out on the other end. The pain I've endured has allowed me to grow stronger, to recognize that I am indeed a survivor. The pain hasn't subsided, it's simply gotten easier to manage. Some days it's like I'm being hit with a huge wave, I'm drowning with grief and can't breathe, and other days I'm happy and enjoying life.

I learned so much from him in the brief time we had together, and from no longer having my first true love in my life. He taught me a lesson even in his death, which was that we really truly weren't meant to be together forever. We loved each other, and we had a beautiful friendship but we couldn't be together forever. He taught me that it is possible to love and to be loved, and that it's possible for it to happen again. He taught me that the next person to love me will accept me for me, respect me and my journey, and that I should not accept anything less. He taught me that he will always be by my side even in death and I know this because I occasionally feel his presence guiding me through the moment.