I Miss My Sister

 



I know how to speak two languages proficiently, yet somehow I cannot find the words to describe the way this latest Bell Asteri book makes me feel. Only those who know my husband and me best will truly get it but I will try to explain...

When I first met Bill, we became instantly connected for two reasons: we were both very into physical fitness and sports; we both were seven years old when we had a younger sibling enduring cancer treatments. Immediately, I experienced that infamous "survivor's guilt" because my baby brother survived his illness and he is living a great life today. Bill, on the other hand, experienced the trauma of his sister's death thanks to the most disgusting of monsters, leukemia.

When we first met, I asked him about his sister. He told me about so many of his memories swimming with her and playing Candy Land with her and some of the family fishing trips. But most of his memories were sad ones. He remembered the trips to the children's hospital where he saw her go in for chemotherapy and radiation therapy and saw her get poked and prodded and poisoned. For an adult, these things are horrible to endure. Imagine how much of a nightmare they are for kids.

Of everything my husband shared with me about his memories, the most vivid image of all was that of an eight-year-old boy bending down to a coffin to kiss his sister's cold cheek. I felt that to the depths of my soul. It doesn't matter how many decades have gone by. Grief doesn't go away.

It is my great pleasure and honor to announce the publishing of our latest book, "I Miss My Sister" which is based on a young boy's grief after losing his sister to cancer. There are many of these kids out there- siblings of children who have died of cancer. They often feel unseen and alone. They suffer a lot of anxiety and depression and guilt. Their voices need to be heard. I am so very honored that Bell Asteri Publishing is one of the ways for them to be heard. 

To my husband... I love you and I'm sorry you lost your sister. Your grief mattered then and it matters now.




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