Kathleen Pooler’s new memoir, Just the Way He Walked

A few months ago, my friend Kathleen Pooler published her second memoir, Just the Way He Walked: A Mother’s Story of Hope and Healing. Congratulations, Kathy!

I was honored that she asked me to write an endorsement for her book, which I’m happy to share with you here:

“The deeper I read into Kathy’s story, the more I wanted to cry out to God, ‘How much should one person have to endure?’ Battling Stage Four Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, for decades she also agonized over her son’s drug and alcohol abuse.

“Kathy’s unfailing love for her son prompted everything she did to help him, yet he kept having relapses. Often driven to despair, she didn’t understand that her enabling hindered him from taking responsibility for his actions and choices.

“Kathy wrote: ‘It would take years and many Al-Anon meetings and prayers for me to break my addiction to his addiction and be able to set firm boundaries for myself and him.’

“Throughout it all, Kathy never stopped loving her son, always had hope for him and for herself, and always trusted God.

“Because her heart’s desire is to offer hope to those dealing with addictions, Kathy offers a wealth of materials at the end of her memoir. They include sixteen lessons she learned over twenty-three years, several pages of resources for parents of addicted children, and book discussion questions.

“Just the Way He Walked: A Mother’s Story of Hope and Healing is a book you’ll want to share with others in need of inspiration and mentoring through Kathy’s tenacious faith and hope.” (Linda K. Thomas)

Here’s another endorsement:

“If family alcoholism and the author’s physical illness were this story’s only focus, readers would miss the pot of gold at the end—a rainbow of hope, one metaphor in Kathy Pooler’s excellent memoir, Just the Way He Walked. Though no sunshiny fairytale, Kathy’s courageous story takes the reader through the ugly to reveal the beautiful, reason enough to keep turning the pages in anticipation of a happy ending. . . .” (Marian Longnecker Beaman, author of Mennonite Daughter: The Story of a PlainGirl)

And here’s the book description from Amazon:

“Just the Way He Walked: A Mother’s Story of Healing and Hope is a story of how one woman’s simultaneous battles of Stage Four Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and her young adult son’s addiction to alcohol and drugs test her resolve to never, ever give up hope. Written for parents, particularly mothers, of children who are addicted, this is a story of love, faith, hope, and breaking the cycle of addiction. Family relationships, father-son, mother-son, single parenting, the impact of addictions on families, and the need for education in breaking the cycle of addiction are all explored. The message of resilience and faith in the face of insurmountable odds serves as a testament of what is possible when one dares to hope.”

I hope you’ll recommend Just the Way He Walked

to friends, family, and your church’s staff and library.

It’s sure to be a rich resource for many.

And do Kathy a favor:

Leave a review on Amazon,

Barnes and Noble, and Goodreads.

Kathy is a retired family nurse practitioner and cancer survivor who’s passionate about sharing hope through storytelling. Several years ago, she also authored a memoir entitled Ever Faithful to His Lead: My Journey Away from Emotional Abuse.

You’ll want to follow her blog, Memoir Writer’s Journey (click on that link), and her author page on Facebook (click on that link).