The Light Between Oceans - Book Review

When I was in Philadelphia this past summer, my daughter told me about a book she had been reading that she really liked.  The story sounded good, but I promptly forgot the name.  A couple of weeks later, a friend from church was raving about this book on Facebook.  I asked my daughter if she had read it, and she replied, "that's the book I was telling you about, mom."  I immediately put in a request to borrow the kindle edition from the library, but there were several people ahead of me.  When I got home, my friend loaned me her copy and then a few days later, my library loan came through so I started treading the print version, but finished the book on my kindle.  I found the story every bit as good and compelling as others had told me it was.  Here is my Goodreads review:

Tom Sherbourne returns to Australia from WWI damaged and alone. He takes a job as a lighthouse keeper on remote Janus, an island off the coast of Eastern Australia. When Tom meets and then marries Isabel, bringing her to Janus, he dares to believe that the two of them can be happy forever alone together there. Then fate intervenes and three pregnancies leave the couple still childless and Isabel in deep despair. When fate intervenes again and they find an infant girl alive in a small boat with a dead man, Isabel believes that God has given her a child after all. Tom reluctantly allows his wife to keep the child, who they name Lucy, knowing within his heart that the baby's mother is somewhere waiting for the return of her little girl. The years go by, the child grows, and both Tom and Isabel love and parent her tenderly, believing that just maybe this little family can exist together forever in the lighthouse centered world of Janus. Eventually however, the truth of the situation is brought to light, the deception is revealed and the child's real mother comes forward to claim her, devastating Tom, Isabel and Lucy and destroying their family.

This is a beautifully written and compelling novel of love, loss and loyalty. It confronts the issues of right and wrong and deception and truth with human characters who are complex and neither all good, nor all bad - very much like us all. Author M.L. Stedman paints each character in such a way that the reader empathizes with each one and wonders "what would I do in that situation." 

This book is unforgettable. It is tender, yet riveting as it takes the reader to the unexpected yet satisfying ending where we learn true lessons about love, family, repentance, forgiveness and moving on. Highly recommended. Five Stars *****

Missionary Monday

Monday is usually the day we hear from our son Joshua, a.k.a. Elder Jones, serving a mission in Mexico right now.  He usually sends an email in the afternoon, briefly telling us a few things that have happened during the week and answering some of the questions we have asked him. I will miss his Monday emails when he comes home next month.  Anxiously waiting to hear from Josh each Monday has become part of my Monday routine.  Last week, a power outage in the "cyber cafe" where he uses the computers prevented him from emailing any more that a couple of lines telling us that he is OK.  We are looking forward to little more newsy email today.

We got these pictures via email about three weeks ago.  I don't think I have ever shared them here, so better late than never.  I may be prejudiced, but I think these are so cute, because he looks so happy. 

 This is probably my favorite picture of Josh that I have received over the past two years.   Gotta love that smile and the thumbs up!  I used this picture in his "Welcome Home" banner.

 Missionary "men in black."

This one is a little blurry, but it looks like they are having a good time.

This one was probably taken in the morning right before scripture study time.  Mormon missionaries read and study the scriptures for two hours every morning before they go out to work and share their Gospel message.

Having Josh come home soon feels bittersweet.  I miss him and it will be great to see him again and help him get on with his life, but I will miss these sweet "missionary moments" like Monday emails and pictures of a happy young man doing a great and important work.

Favorites of last week

I am two days late in joining up with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story for Friday Fave Fives, but nevertheless, the last week was good and I have much to be grateful for, so here are some of my favorite things.

School is off to a good start.  I am teaching three sections of juniors and two sections of seniors this year. These are my 5th hour students hard at work on their first writing assignment. So far, it appears that I have a lot of really nice kids in my classes and I am looking forward to teaching and working with them throughout this school year.

 We have had some rain which is always nice.   (We have had a few dust storms too - not so nice).

The monsoon rains that come during the hottest part of the summer can be pretty hard and cause flooding, but they help green things up and cool the temperatures, at least for a few hours.

I got these letters from my sweet grandchildren up in Utah.  Because I was with my  East Coast grandkids in Maryland and Pennsylvania all summer, I did not get to see much of my Utah grandchildren and I miss them.  I  treasure the letters they write.  In addition to the letters, I talked to these grandkids, and their mom on the phone for a while yesterday and that is always nice.

Josh will be home in just a few weeks!  We got his travel itinerary last week and this welcome home banner (shown above) arrived. We are getting excited to see  him again after two years!

Finally, this thought that my friend Jamie Jo shared on Facebook recently.  Good advice for anyone, any time.

Have a productive, safe and happy week!

Catching Up

I have been home from Philadelphia for over two weeks now and am only now finding a few minutes to do a quick catch-up.  When I got home, I literally had three days of summer vacation left, then it was back to school.

 First, we had four days of teacher meetings and classroom preparations.

Here we all are during teacher meetings the first day back. I am at the left side front table, right in front, wearing a blue t-shirt (slightly out of sync with my colleagues in red) and busily working on lesson plans, or maybe I was just taking notes on what the principal was saying. ;-)

Last Wednesday, the students came back to school.  This year, I am teaching four classes of juniors and one of seniors.  I am beginning my 16th year as a high school teacher. Charly is beginning his 10th year as a teacher.

Meanwhile, in Philadelphia, Thomas finished his proton radiation therapy a few days after I had to return home.  Here he is with his mom and dad and three sisters the day he got to ring the big bell, which is what all the cancer patients at this hospital do the day they finish radiation therapy.  

Thomas and the whole family are now back in Maryland where he had another round of chemo only a few days after getting home.  He was inpatient at the hospital for five days but is now home until his next round of chemo in about 21 days.  I love this picture of Thomas and his baby sister Maddie from photographer Madison James.  I must admit that the picture did make me miss them a lot, but I am grateful for the time I was able to be with Thomas, Maddie, Emily, Eleanor and their mom and dad this summer.  It was truly a blessing to be there and be able to help out as much as I could. 

It has been a hectic and busy couple of weeks since I got back to Arizona.  I promise to post again soon, but for now, I will leave with this scripture that was read at church today and helped me remember that there is hope, help, healing and peace even in the midst of the crazy busy lives and the heart-rending trials and problems of this life.