Where I End

Quadriplegic.  You hear the word and it pricks your heart.  You struggle to wrap your head around the concept of someone no longer being able to use either of their arms or legs, especially when you hear that this particular quadriplegic is a healthy, young 32-year-old woman with a husband and two small children, and her entire life ahead of her.

Questions swirl in your head as you contemplate what this poor woman must've went through.  What would you do if you were told you would never be able to walk again?  That life as you had once known would cease to exist and that this nightmare that you're now living would be your new normal?  That you may not ever get to wrap your arms around your children or even open a bag of potato chips unassisted.  Would you hold onto your faith or would you lose it?  It seems unreal but this is exactly what happened to Katherine Elizabeth Clarke on May 29, 2009.

Where I End is Kate's journey through the ordeal that brought her to this new normal: a freak accident on an elementary school playground in Grand Rapids, Michigan, all the way through her rehabilitation and miraculous recovery, walking after being told she would never walk again.  Beautiful written and heartbreaking, Kate takes you through the accident,  where a little boy jumped off a jungle gym and landed on her neck, severing her spinal cord, through her 40 day stay in a rehabilitation faculty, and the challenges that she continues to face to this day now that she is home.  Interwoven throughout her story, Kate ties in Biblical doctrine that either mirrors what she endured or the thoughts that she thought during that time in her life.

Each chapter begins with a quote from another literary work which I found quite charming.  Though I love all of the Biblical references, and how everything she went through ties back to Jesus, I must admit that I did get a little lost in it all.  It was a lot of back and forth from her story to the stories from the Bible.  I have had a lot going on in my personal life lately so maybe it just wasn't the right season for me to be reading this particular book.

All in all, I am glad I did get the chance to read Where I End.  Kate's story gives hope to those who feel hopeless and is a great reminder that God is here for us no matter what and does hear our prayers. 

"In an instant, all of life can change.  Sometimes it's because of a decision that we've made.  At times it's thrust upon us by the choice of another.  And other times it's just the result of living in this broken world."

*I received a complimentary copy of this book from Moody Publishers and NetGalley in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.  All opinions are my own.