Melody was SO right....Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold is impossible to put down.  I started this book late yesterday and just finished it.  It's another one of those books I picked up numerous times and put down.  I really didn't want to read this story - about a teenagerl killed by a serial killer.  But, as Melody said it was a beautiful story of this young lady who watches her family and friends from Heaven.  She watches and is with them as they try and heal from her death, and how this impacted their lives.  

This book made me pause and think of my friend Caron.  Caron and I had breast cancer at the same time.  We scheduled our radiation appointments back to back so we could car pool into Denver.  This made the trip and experience bearable, even fun.  It was more like getting tea with a friend, as opposed to getting zapped.  Shortly after we were through this experience her daughter was diagnosed with Ovarian cancer.  She died less than a year from her diagnosis.  Rachel was only 20.  She was an absolutely beautiful young lady, inside and out.  

Many things in Lovely Bones made me think about Caron and her family as they approach the 4th anniversary of Rachel's death in January.  I've had glimpses into what a family goes through after loosing a child.  One thing that really resonates is how differently people deal with loss.  Also how important it is to acknowledge the loss.  Caron says so many people won't mention Rachel's name to her because they "don't want to upset her".  What the don't realize that they can't make her upset, she is already upset.  That it can be comforting to have someone to speak with about her daughter.  This book really spoke to this.  

i think I'm going to need to re-read this book again, just like the Shack.  Moving.  Riveting.  Thought provoking and amazing.