“This book is a deeply moving exploration of love and loss that captures the weight of grief and the transformation that results.
While this book doesn’t shy away from pain and heartbreak, there is a gentle and quiet undercurrent of hope that carries the reader forward.”
—Alan D. Wolfelt, Ph.D.
Center for Loss and Life Transition
Author of Grief One Day at a Time
“This beautifully written and deeply moving love story captures the extraordinary tenderness, resilience, and courage that emerge when two people journey through illness together.
This is a remarkably insightful and deeply human book that invites the reader to reflect on life and see the compassionate tribute to love in its most enduring form.”
—Carina Hellqvist
Parkinson’s Nurse specialist, Linköping University Hospital, Sweden
PhD, Senior lecturer, Linköping University, Sweden
“The raw honesty and open-book sharing on being a caregiver and spouse make this a gut-punch of a memoir. Her story is hard to put down, and impossible to forget.”
—Ken Hill, Parkinson’s care partner
“A gift to those with shared experiences of caregiving, love and loss and the search for grace amidst the most difficult of circumstances.
It is heartfelt and intimate.
Kerry Rae’s reflections are told with warmth, and as she shares her story, you’ll feel as though you're sitting alongside her on the couch, at times laughing, at others crying (or both!) and sharing a cup of tea.”
—Allison Marie Allen, MSW, LCSW
Parkinson's Foundation Center
of Excellence Coordinator
“An honest, forthright, and engaging story.
With Kerry Rae’s story of courage and resilience, we learn the value of community and how one can find grace even in hard places.”
—Joe Hromco, Ph.D.
“A Messy Kind of Grace is a deeply moving memoir that speaks directly to
the hearts of care partners, families, and all those touched by Parkinson's disease.
Kerry Rae's story holds a rare honesty and tenderness. It is, at its heart, a love story —
a testament to Harry, and to all the ways Kerry Rae refused to let him face it alone.”
—Marie C. Dershem, LCSW
“Kerry Rae writes with poignant honesty about her journey as a care partner.
This is a love story.
A travel adventure.
A transformative journey through loss and grief.
She does not shy away from the complexity of it all and, through her story, invites us to show up for care partners with greater understanding, nuance, and grace.”
—Christie Bernklau Halvor
Hospice supervisor and massage therapist
“A story enmeshed in the complexities of grief and identity, exploring how life can take so much from us yet give back in unexpected ways.
This is a story wrapped in the power of community, the love of adventure, and the commitment to self and partnership.”
—Jess Long, LAc
“In A Messy Kind of Grace, Kerry Rae uses voice and language to reveal
her very intimate experience with love, loss, and a disease that
dismantles the trajectory of a hoped-for life.
As a care partner, she reveals unwavering tenacity and courage,
while also admitting each raw emotion without apology.
A must-read for any couple facing terminal disease,
if only to validate they are not alone.”
—Christine Tenpas
Hospice and Death Doula Professional
“Kerry Rae's memoir is a story of love, grief, and resilience.
Her honest account of how she and Harry navigated unthinkable heartbreaks with unwavering love for each other is a gift to anyone who reads it.”
—Peggy Rost, LCSW
“A Messy Kind of Grace is a profoundly moving memoir that beautifully captures the journey of a couple at the peak of their lives, full of promise and dreams, only to be confronted with the ultimate test of love.
With raw honesty, she reveals the complex, heartbreaking beauty of grief and the painful, transformative process of enduring loss.
A Messy Kind of Grace is an unforgettable read for anyone navigating the profound heartbreak of losing a partner, offering both solace and strength in the face of life's most difficult trials.”
Laurie Barr
Former healthcare executive.
Author of The Long Fade to Morning
