Thursday, 16 December 2021 08:00 AM
Product Announcements
SAN FRANCISCO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / December 16, 2021 / While working in Ethiopia in 2019, Formentini received word that her 21-year-old son had committed suicide on the other side of the world. A stranger stood at her side for the entire day, holding her hand as she prepared for her trip halfway around the globe. "He was a beacon in my darkest hour," Formentini adds. When she expressed gratitude for his kindness, the stranger declined, saying that caring for her was simply his "human responsibility." The spontaneous act of compassion not only saved her life but also stayed with her.
A 2019 study conducted by Amerispeak and WebMD found that 57% of Americans were grieving the loss of someone close to them. Photographer, author, and trauma recovery advocate Formentini says, "that means every other person you encountered was grieving."
In 2020, when COVID-19 started claiming thousands of lives in the United States and all over the world, Formentini was also in the depths of experiencing grief over her son's suicide. "Suddenly, everything looked, felt, and sounded different. I didn't know how to move forward." Now she does - thanks to a random act of kindness that occurred on the most challenging day of her life.
The CDC attests that most of us have experienced grief during the COVID-19 pandemic. Grief is a natural response to any kind of loss, be it death, artificial or natural disasters, or even loss of a job or divorce. According to the Kubler-Ross model, those experiencing grief go through a series of five emotions: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.
Kirkus-starred TWENTYONE OLIVE TREES (Kat Biggie Press, January 2022) teaches the reader, someone who has experienced a tragic loss, that beauty may emerge even from the most painful and unexplained life events. She developed this book as a personal effort to help her understand and heal. In the process, she created a beautiful work of art that can help others sit in their grief and feel the emotions they need to feel as they advance through phases of denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance.
The book includes poetry that depicts Laura's mourning journey, fables with morals that represent the wisdom Laura and her son Blaise gathered during their years of living and traveling together, and lessons Laura learned about loss, as well as stunning pictures. The fables take a youthful, intimate look at dealing with loss and accepting it. The tender lessons will speak to the heart of the bereaved. Lessons that teach us that our loved ones are always present with us, whether or not we can see them. This message concludes the first story, "Camel and Spider." "Silly Camel, I'm right here with you, even when I'm not with you." Camel gazed up at the moon, visible in the late-afternoon sky. "You're in the moon. You're in every grain of sand. I can't see anything without seeing you, Spider."
Marit Cooper's exquisite pictures, in addition to Formentini's prose, complement each fable with vivid representations of plot and character. Cooper reproduces the most intricate elements given in the tales, all linked together with simple yet profound olive branches. This heartfelt anthology exemplifies the power of storytelling-and of a mother's love.
In TWENTYONE OLIVE TREES, readers will learn:
- How to journey through grief at their own pace
- That beauty can come out of even the most difficult experiences
- That death can be the beginning of a new journey
- That a whole transformation of our being is possible even after the most traumatic events
- That love has the power to transform us and the world
TWENTYONE OLIVE TREES is inspirational in nature and intended to assist those who want to recover from a difficult-to-understand or-process life event. The book does not tell people how to feel, overcome, or change; instead, it allows them to sit with their feelings while reading Laura's inspiring lessons on grieving and loss. It's a lovely book, unlike memoirs or self-help books, which may prescribe a path to recovery. This book allows you to go on a nontraditional journey, allowing you to process your pain and determine your healing time frame.
Formentini has spent her entire career working with non-profit organizations, and she is a child welfare crusader and an advocate for animal cruelty prevention worldwide. Following her son's death, she has added another mission to her life's work: encouraging random acts of kindness.
TWENTYONE OLIVE TREES is now available for pre-order from Amazon and booksellers nationwide and will officially be available for sale on January 11, 2022.
Formentini is available for speaking opportunities. More information can be found on www.LauraFormentini.com and Instagram at @authorlauraformentini.
ADVANCE REVIEW MATERIAL AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST
Contact:
Nancy Cavillones
347-960-0617
[email protected]
SOURCE: Laura Formentini
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