Katherine and Jay Wolf have the kind of story you wouldn’t wish on anybody, but through the unthinkable, they have found–and clung to–hope.
They were just 26, with a 6-month-old in the house, married only a few years when Katherine suffered a massive brain stem stroke. Her odds of surviving surgery were low, but survive, she did, and though it would be a long road of recovery and loss and acceptance of how life would be, her story is nothing short of miraculous.
In Hope Heals: A True Story of Overwhelming Loss and an Overcoming Love, the Wolfs share openly about the dreams that died with the stroke and about the hard days of learning to do basic skills again. Particularly moving is Katherine’s desperation to eat food again and the work it took for her to pass a swallowing test, as well as her realization that she couldn’t feed her baby or take care of him. (Disclaimer: I received a free copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for my review.)
Theirs is no sugar-coated hope. It is gritty and gut-wrenching. They have wrestled with God about the course of their lives and found that He is still good and their suffering is not meaningless.
Katherine writes:
When we share our stories in real and messy ways, we give people permission to do the same, and in the sharing, we release some of the things that keep us trapped in our own isolated hotel rooms. We remember we are not alone. And that brings hope. (p.195)
Grab a box of tissues before you pick up this book, but whatever you do, read it and discover that hope can be found in what seems like the most hopeless of circumstances.