Shattered Glass: A Father's Journey Through Grief

By Jeffery D. Kennon

Shattered Glass: A Father's Journey Through Grief

By Jeffery D. Kennon

A book about grief and growth

Eight months, seven days. Too short for a life. Long enough to change one.

Book Excerpt

Eight months, seven days. Too short for a life. Long enough to change one. Only parents understand this place in our hearts, in our souls, that gets bigger as our children grow. When life stops, the hallowed space stops being filled, but it continues to expand. I, like most, if not all parents who’ve walked this path, have no idea what to do with those expanding empty spaces. For a time, I used to wear her loss on my sleeve like an insignia of rank that set me apart. The insignia was a sign of pain. If I couldn’t feel her anymore, at least I could feel the pain. It made her real when the fog of time started to erode and fade her from memory. Now, if asked, I stay silent unless I sense her story might serve a purpose. I listen to the parents talk of the challenges, the struggles of the living, of the loud, and of the silence. This is that story; from life, to death, to standing alone and empty, beyond comfort, beyond all familiarity. Then back again, in the midst of the darkness, to hope.

Shattered Glass

A note from the author.

A journey through grief and growth.

“For many years I’ve kept the details of what happened behind a dusty old curtain. I boxed away the turbulent emotions, stamping “none of your business.” over them, in blood. Only a few knew and honestly, I thought this was so precious and private that if I touched it, it would crumble like a dried leaf. What I realized, and it’s been over two decades since Haven left, is that parents are going through this every day and I am still here with her story baked into my DNA. What if there is the slightest chance that between these pages and lines, another parent walking this path finds hope? So I tiptoed into this story, writing it a possible series of blog posts, but it grew. Between my wife, my family, my publisher, and author, Jennifer Marshall Bleakley, they encouraged me to write ‘more’, and tell more of what happened.
 
Before you ask, yes there are parts that rest in my imagination. The devastation though, to the landscape of a parent’s life, is not imaginary. When life breaks us, we all need to find handholds and I choose to believe that Christ was and is intimately involved with what occurred. I see that Christ is the ‘Hope of Glory’, Colossians 1:27 and it’s that Hope that is offered to all. That Hope is the foundation of what got me to this point in life. I pray God uses this tiny, little piece of Shattered Glass from my life to help you find the Hope he offers to you.”

What readers are saying

About the Author

Author, Coach, Speaker, Pilot, Family Man

Jeff Kennon

AUTHOR, SPEAKER, COACH

A little about me...

I’m a follower of Jesus and I walk a crooked road. I’m not alone in that, but I come from a people who cling to the highway. When I lost my daughter, when my marriage fell apart, the ‘highway faith’ stopped working for me. My life careened onto some twisty back roads. I felt more alone than I needed to over the years, thinking I had disqualified myself from finding God.

Along those back roads I’ve gotten glimpses of Him, in the ‘real’, in the messy, and in the places without answers. Is it still hard? Yes. Do I still struggle? Yes. That is part of life. What I’m learning is that God is bigger than the boxes we put Him in, and He’s not afraid of our pain.

If you’re afraid you can’t belong to Him, because you don’t fit into a ‘highway faith’. I’m here to offer hope, without erasing the reality of your pain.
If life has torn out your footings through grief, through loss, through struggle, know that you’re not alone.