As Dayton Daily News Literary Life columnist Sharon Short explains, Smith’s new book “deals with the aftermath of suddenly losing her husband of 19 years just before Christmas. At the time, she and her husband, Rick, had been married 19 years and were the parents of three young children, ages 17, 12 and 10.”
Smith is expected to read from the book officially released Oct. 28 during the public event.
Her roots are deep here.
Smith grew up in the Old North Dayton neighborhood and graduated from John H. Patterson Cooperative High School. She joined the Dayton Daily News staff in 1997.
The Wright State graduate started writing notes about things that happened following her husband’s death due to heart issues in 1999.
Her notes about her experience and those of her children became a journal. One gift was left anonymously for them each day for 12 days leading up to Christmas.
The family started to piece together the origins of the gifts, which helped them through their grief.
“I was ready to cancel Christmas,” Smith told Short, “but the 12 gifts helped me reconsider how I was approaching life after losing Rick. The 13th gift is a spiritual one — the recognition that our community truly cared about us and wanted to be supportive of us.”
Read: Memoirist shares poignant tale
Contact this blogger at arobinson@DaytonDailyNews.com or Twitter.com/DDNSmartMouth
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