I bought both of your books last week and I finished 'Hood to Harvard' in one day and 'Good Grief It's Mourning' in 3hrs! Such excellent reads! I laughed, I cried, I said OUCH numerous times. I didn't want to read them at 1st because I just "knew" it would take me to that checst closing,k throat gripping, can't breathe, stomach caving moment I been trying not to have. These books did for me what literature can sometimes do, reclain the broken off bits of the spirit. As I turned through the pages it took away the burden of isolation, of silence. I wasn't by myself anymore and even though our stories were different I felt connected. Jill, I was so ready to stop feeling empty, unsure, stagnant & now angry. I'm angry because I'm a motherless daughter that has to hold her "I can only tell my mother that (jokes/secrets/thoughts)". God is answering my prayers, he has returned my tears, he sent me two PHENOMENAL books as reference points . . . I've decided to go to grief counseling & get it all out. Can't spend my life fluctuating between sad, angry & semi-functional anymore. 4yrs is too long. Anyway, just wanted to say thank you.