cover image God Gave Me You: A True Story of Love, Loss and a Heaven-Sent Miracle

God Gave Me You: A True Story of Love, Loss and a Heaven-Sent Miracle

Tricia Seaman, with Diane Nichols. Howard, $25.99 (256p) ISBN 978-1-5011-3183-7

Seaman never dreamed that entering a hospital room while an oncology nurse in Harrisburg, Penn., would set in motion a series of events that led her to adopt a dying patient’s son. Seaman, a wife and mother of five children of her own, had her heart set on adopting an infant to bring into the family when she met ailing Trish Somers. Over a short period of time, as Somers’s cancer began to spread, the two became close, but Seaman was left stunned when Somers asked her to take care of her young son, Wesley, after she passed away. Trying to downplay this shocking request, Seaman let the question sink in; she went home, told her husband, and prayed for an answer. The subsequent months saw the entire Seaman family upending their lives to care for Somers in their own home, help Wesley adjust to his mom’s terminal diagnosis, and slowly knit these two lonely individuals into their bustling family unit. With the help of Nichols, the narrative moves swiftly, and Seamen’s internal search for strength in faith comes across on every page. The authors shares this remarkable story in chronological order, and readers will find themselves both amazed and challenged by the Seaman family’s unconditional love for Somers and her son as they truly live out the biblical edict to love one’s neighbor as oneself. (May)