"I have read Rachael Ikins' BROKEN SPOONS four times. First to last... then last to first. I am overwhelmed with the breadth and depth of it. The images -- layered, abundant, so real they seem to invite us to hold them tight to teach us what grief and healing is. Ikins describes how hidden grief can be: "nobody sees..." Exactly. Grief at its worst is solitary. It can be lifted with the care of those who love us. But nobody knows the depth of a love that saved both Rachael and her dog.

She describes the grief of the rest of the living family... who carry their loss in ways she so fully understands. With the shock, hope believes there can still be a miracle to give more time. But, as the author reminds us so often: "rules are rules."

Each of those brilliant powerful images will linger long now because they are written on my heart too.

Ikins' description of her dog Sassie preparing to leave this realm was filled with hope and heartbreak for Sassie was sitting on Rachael's heart as she wrote this." -Patricia D. Dickinson, retired assistant library director, founder and moderator of the Canastota Writers Group, grief support leader