Hannah's Gift Analysis

Reading Hannah’s Gift was an emotional experience that brought me to laughter and tears following the journey of the family through the loss of their three year old daugher. Recognizing that all grief is personal and unique to the individual each loss does share certain moments of processing for the family left behind. From the family’s coming to terms with treatment, accepting impending loss and finally how they move forward after the death of a child you see full circle an honest consideration of the impact that childhood cancer has upon a family. The stages of grief while unique manifest in each family as they seek support and process the new life that is now their reality.
I appreciate the beginning of the story, explaining the red shoes and the significance. As parents not appreciating simple everyday moments happens almost all the time. The foresight and foreshadowing to allow what would be such an indulgence meant so much through the remainder of the recount. Once the family was being given their diagnosis, following multiple seemingly innocent attempts to resolve what should have been a small illness the most …show more content…
While they are unique to each individual they do follow certain stages and paths. From seeing personal family and friends deal with childhood loss, I have seen a variety in the way they process the loss and continue to grieve. While on the surface it may look like too-much or odd to a bystander, their grief is real and their need to process in their own way is necessary. There is no cookie-cutter box for how to experience the loss of a child. There are statistics, that define “normal” but that flies away depending on the situation, personality and causality of the loss. Allowing people to process their loss in their own way, making sure that it remains in a healthy place, is vital. Proper counseling and resources to support the loss are critical to the long-term outcome for the