The Pieces We Leave Behind: Prairie Way

Some of the most important lessons in life are never taught. They are lived. They are found in a grandmother's kitchen that smells of coffee and something baking. In a grandfather's weathered hands. Around a crowded table where there is always room for one more. On a dusty gravel road leading to a farm, beside a pond full of bluegill, beneath a prairie sky alive with fireflies. And sometimes, in the words of a little girl reminding her younger siblings not to chase the frogs too far away- because frogs have parents, too. The Pieces We Leave Behind: The Prairie Way is a deeply personal collection of fifty-two stories about family, nature, childhood, motherhood, love, loss, and the quiet inheritance passed from one generation to the next. Raised among the farms and prairies of Iowa and Nebraska, Christina learned early that everything living deserved respect. Her grandmother Millie taught her to slow down and pay attention. Her grandfather Bud showed her that strength and gentleness could exist in the same weathered hands. Roy and Rose taught belonging. Rod and Nay taught adventure, hospitality, and the importance of making room for people. Years later, Christina watched those same lessons take root in her own three children. Alyssa, the eldest and an old soul, noticed everything and lived each day as though adventure were waiting just beyond the door. Kaitlynn found beauty in wildflowers, pretty insects, feral cats, and wildlife. Brandon somehow became the balance of both-fearless enough to race a four-wheeler across the farm at full speed and tender enough to slam on the brakes because he'd spotted a frog. Then, on January 5, ordinary life changed forever. At sixteen, Alyssa was diagnosed with a devastatingly rare disease. Twenty-one days later, Christina lay beside her daughter as they talked about the beauty of life, nature, the farms, and everyone Alyssa loved.