Matt, Melford, Miracles: A Boy's Courageous Journey
Matt, Melford, Miracles: A Boy’s Courageous Journey is the story of Maureen Wierman’s family and the grief journey they traveled after their seven-year-old son, Matt, was diagnosed with a rare leukemia.
Maureen hopes her story will encourage other families who have experienced the loss of a child or a loved one. This includes the impact on a marriage and on family and friends, both initially and throughout the years. Their story is one of faith and making the best of tough situations and discovering ways to navigate the journey successfully. Her goal is that others will discover that you never lose hope, you are not alone, and there is no right or wrong way to "do grief, “ but in reading Matt’s story you will know that you can heal and move forward.
About the Author
Maureen Wierman is a mother, grandmother, and is happily married to her husband, Rich. Her faith in God is at the core of her life. Maureen works for an online university in their nursing program, and she and her husband are both blessed to work from their home in Maryland. She loves to spend time with her family, writing, travel, sewing, and cycling. She has wanted to write a book since she took a course in college but thought she would write children's books. While praying for a topic, her son became ill. That is how this book came to be. The family received so much help and support during this crisis in their lives, and God walked alongside them through this journey—and still does after many years.
Plot/Idea: 8 out of 10
Originality: 8 out of 10
Prose: 8 out of 10
Character/Execution: 8 out of 10
Overall: 8.00 out of 10
Assessment:
Plot/Idea: Thirty years after her son Matt's death at the age of eight, Wierman finds the courage and the words to chronicle his battle with a rare form of leukemia. Throughout the battle, up to and beyond the very end, Matt and his surviving family are sustained by their immense faith in God.
Prose: With grace, dignity, and immense faith, Wierman relives the journey she and her family trod with their beloved Matt. Unsparingly, she sets forth the agony of watching her son's suffering, the ecstatic leaps of hope when the cancer briefly went into remission, the poignant gratitude for the kindness of family, friends, and strangers who helped them in ways too numerous to tell, and the steadfast faith that ultimately helped her transcend the grief of losing her only son.
Originality: Few, indeed, are those who could undergo the agony of losing a child to a protracted battle with cancer and come through with their faith in God strengthened, rather than diminished. This is the story of a family remarkable for its acceptance and unshakable belief, not least of all Matt himself.
Character Development/Execution: Wierman's purpose in writing a memoir almost as short and as brave as the life of its subject, her son Matt, was to make sure he would never be forgotten, and to bear witness to her faith that God never for a moment forgot Matt and his family. She has succeeded on both counts.
Date Submitted: December 03, 2021
