About the Book

Publication Date

June 28 2022

ISBN-10

022887601X

ISBN-13

978-0228876014

This is the true story of André, a young man who touched the lives of many people in many different ways, though his own life ended far too soon. It is also the story of Louise’s transformation as she grappled with her son’s death and gradually came to see their relationship in a new light.

Suicide is a difficult topic to broach but it is eloquently presented here in the form of a tale. A creative writing assignment penned by a very young André serves as a prelude to Louise’s story.

Louise’s decision to share her story in writing was cathartic, as it allowed her to find serenity and peace following the tragedy of her son’s death. If you are trying to make sense of significant and defining moments in your life, this moving story of love and hope may be just what you are looking for.

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Cover photo: Marc Gallant/Winnipeg Free Press – reproduced with permission

The inspiration for Hidden Treasures came from seeing the picture of my son juggling with fire. One day as I was looking at the picture, it came to mind that a book would be written about this. This idea lay dormant for a while. About a year later as I was looking for my son’s graduation pictures I happened to find a story written by my son when he was in grade 2. As I read his story I was taken aback by the symbolic messages found in it… I was very comforted by the idea of the ghost made of light that guided my son through the storm and brought him safely home. Being lost in the storm also symbolized so well what it is like to be depressed – always feeling lost and never being able to find a way out of it. The labyrinth is also such a symbol of our life journey – always ending up in a dead end… then trying again to find a way out.

I had a few people look at the story – Lost in the Storm to make sure that I was not the only person who understood the symbolic messages. Sure enough – people were quite surprised that such a young person could have written this very meaningful story.

From then on I felt an inner knowing that I needed to have this story published. Surely the messages contained in this story were not just for my eyes alone. It became quite clear that I was going to be the person writing a book using the photo of my son juggling with fire and bringing my son’s story to a wider audience.

Since suicide is such a traumatic experience for everyone involved I really wanted the book to be uplifting a healing in nature. My goal was to create a soothing and peaceful experience for the reader – even though the subject is such a difficult one.

To help me with this, I always kept in mind these words of comfort we received in one of the sympathy cards sent to us:

As gently as midnight caresses the landscape of night may God’s love tenderly soothe your grieving heart.

I also made a very conscious effort to make the book as pleasing to the eye as possible… by using the children’s drawings throughout the book and using healing colors. I was very fortunate to have a book designer who understood what I was trying to convey and who did a wonderful job in presenting the drawings and photographs.