Praise for Catch Me When I Fall

Poet and prophet, traveler in the realms between the worlds—the here and the greater there—Donna Stoneham is our guide to the landscapes and the inscapes of grief, loss, and the quickening of the human heart. Through this potent telling, she mentors and helps us renew and recover the connection with the love and spirit that never dies.”

—Jean Houston, PhD, cofounder of the Human Potential Movement and best-selling author of The Possible Human, The Search for the Beloved, and A Passion for the Possible

The other day I ran into a friend who told me, in a halting voice, that she’d just lost her beloved mother. The first thought I had was that I wanted to give her a copy of Donna Stoneham’s beautiful book. Catch Me When I Fall is a balm for the grieving heart, a reminder that love never leaves—it just shifts dimensions.”

—Julie Barton, New York Times best-selling author of Dog Medicine: How My Dog Saved Me From Myself

Donna Stoneham’s Catch Me When I Fall is a balm for our wounds and a great gift in times of grief. As a safety net in our moments of loss, it may be just what we need in our inevitable times of falling. Gorgeously written, this book brings a poignant beauty to the healing process of grieving.”

­—Sean W. Murphy, 2018 National Endowment for the Arts Fellow in Creative Writing and author of The Time of New Weather

The power of words. The power of deep and binding connections. Resilience. Grief. Loss. Love. Mothers. Daughters. This book, this woven collection, by the magnificent and glorious and brave—oh, so brave—Donna Stoneham will leave you breathless; moments that tug at you, moments that revive you, moments that fill you with unexpected hope. I urge you to pick up this book and let it restore your heart.”

—Amy Ferris, author of Marrying George Clooney: Confessions from a Midlife Crisis and coeditor of Dancing at the Shame Prom: Sharing the Stories that Kept Us Small

Catch Me When I Fall is a poetic memoir, a love song between daughter and mother. In exploring the portal of mother-loss, the author gives birth to herself. It is through her gripping grief that love abounds. In her poetry she weaves the pain of cultures, of politics, and of the pandemic. A poetically profound love story not to be missed!”

—Barbara Sapienza, PhD, author of The Laundress and Anchor Out

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More Praise for Catch Me When I Fall

Stoneham’s poignant poems and prose can offer hope and challenge for anyone living with and trying to process grief at the loss of a loved one.”

— The U.S. Review of Books

An intimate and sometimes-profound chronicle of grief.”

— Kirkus Reviews

Catch Me When I Fall is an intimate collection of poetry that shows how even in the most difficult of times, love finds a way to pierce the darkness and bring joy into our lives. This is not just a collection for poetry lovers, but a book for anyone who has suffered the loss of a loved one.”

— Readers’ Favorite 5-Star Review – Highly Recommended

Whether or not you are religious, spiritual, or believe in life after death, Donna Stoneham’s beautiful poems about loss and her letters to her dead mother will reach into your own grieving heart and guide you toward healing. Although Catch Me When I Fall is Donna’s personal story, anyone who’s had and lost a mother will relate to the connection and pain and will be uplifted—because Donna shows us that although death may end a physical life, it does not end a relationship.”

—Virginia A. Simpson, PhD, bereavement care specialist and author of The Space Between: A Memoir of Mother-Daughter Love at the End of Life

Navigating grief is both an individual and collective experience, fraught with the vagaries of family history and unique personal struggles. This universal theme is turned over and over again in Donna’s effective and honest writing. It is an intimate recollection and fearless accounting of the uncharted paths of grief, but it is also a metamorphosis, as she, and I believe her mother, discover the tenuous connection they thought they had with each other was not tenuous at all but one of strongly wrought love.”

—Cindy Eastman, author of Flip-Flops After 50: And Other Thoughts On Aging I Remembered To Write Down

One suggestion, given my own tears, before you even crack open Stoneham’s collection of poems—maybe don’t start reading in a public space. I say that because even though we have our whole lives to prepare for the moment we become motherless, are we ever really prepared for, as Stoneham describes, ‘the slack tide’ of our ragged hearts? But persevere, and you will begin to understand what we call the restorative power of grief—how it moves with you, guides you, and then loosens its grip.”

—Nina Gaby, editor of Dumped: Women’s Stories of Women Unfriending Women

This very personal story of mother-daughter love captures the longing that never leaves us. The umbilical cord of that love is twisted by conflicting values and individuation, but unwinds again at the end of life, when mind gives way and reason steps aside to let love and longing be fulfilled. Written as a dialogue that extends even beyond death, Stoneham’s masterful weave of prose and poetry is a primer on moving through sadness toward understanding and peace.”

—Mary E. Plouffe, author of I Know It in My Heart: Walking through Grief with a Child

I began reading Donna Stoneham’s Catch Me When I Fall shortly before the one-year anniversary of my beloved mother’s death. As I walked beside Donna through her own grief journey, I rode the too-familiar waves of sadness and overwhelm, of love and transcendence. With her powerful poetry and prose, Donna reminded me to look to the Universe for signs from my mom, to trust in the ultimate plan, and to honor our lost loved ones by spreading joy and positivity. I will forever be grateful for the healing power of this book.”

—Katrina Anne Willis, author of Parting Gifts

The primal wound of losing a mother is something most of us will be asked to endure in our lifetimes. Donna Stoneham has given us the gift of letting us move with her over the rough ground of her own profound loss. Her poetry, and her poignant letters to and communications from her mother, invite us to descend into the darkness, let our hearts break wide open to love, and walk the hard and holy path of grief and loss as a portal to our own becoming.”

—Suzanne Anderson, author of You Make Your Path by Walking: A Transformational Field Guide Through Trauma and Loss and coauthor of The Way of the Mysterial Woman: Upgrading How You Live, Love, and Lead

Amid the severance of earthly ties, walk with Donna Stoneham as she tenderly stitches and dresses the wound. This is difficult heart work which we will all have to do; here is a gracious reminder that we do not have to do it alone.”

—Lt. Brian Bort, US Navy chaplain and author of The Strange Fish and Gigantic Brittle

Donna Stoneham’s poignant collection of poetry and prose, Catch Me When I Fall, reminds us all—whatever our faith, whatever notions we may have about the afterlife—that our deepest relationships don’t have to end when a dear one passes from this life. Comforting, uplifting, and deeply moving, this book shows us that although love’s form may change with death, the conversations with those we hold most dear can continue, if only we keep our hearts open.”

—Betsy Graziani Fasbinder, marriage/family therapist and author of Filling Her Shoes

In Catch Me When I Fall, Donna Stoneham provides us with not only a roadmap to the wild country of grief but also an intimate travelogue. In poetry and letters, she documents every step of her journey, from the depths of bereft despair to the heights of transcendent communion. This book is a testament of a mighty love too strong for death to conquer.”

—Rev. John R. Mabry, PhD, author of Growing into God: A Beginner’s Guide to Christian Mysticism and coauthor of Soul Journeys: Christian Spirituality and Shamanism as Pathways for Wholeness and Understanding

This collection of poems brings to mind Kintsugi, the Japanese practice of repairing broken pottery with gold. The Japanese believe that by embracing and lovingly repairing what is broken, a deeper beauty is revealed. Stoneham has spun gold in these words to repair her fractured heart. Anyone who has had a complicated mother-daughter relationship, or is searching for closure after mother loss, will find comfort and truth in her words.”

—Hollye Dexter, author of Fire Season and The Shift

Life comes with tangles. For many, the tangle that occurs in the mother-daughter relationship is painful and ongoing—but sometimes it can loosen, allowing a new avenue for love. Donna Stoneham taps into the deep longing that comes when her mother is trapped in her own collage of expectations and fear. Donna poignantly expresses the unfolding ability to see her mother, and I love that the transformation for Donna and her mom continues beyond her mom’s time on earth.”

—Gail Warner, author of Weaving Myself Awake: Voicing the Sacred Through Poetry

Catch Me When I Fall is a love story and a tale of metamorphosis that offers inspiration to all who suffer with wounds from our most primal relationship—with our mother. Interspersed with Stoneham’s lovely poetry, this touching, beautiful memoir takes us through the storm of grief to a peaceful resolution with the awareness that a relationship can thrive beyond physical death. The relationship between Stoneham and her mother continues to transform, giving us a message of hope and healing that is eternal.”

—Cheryl Krauter, MFT, author of Odyssey of Ashes: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Letting Go

Regardless of your relationship with your mother, when she passes, nothing touches your heart as deeply. To have this book as a resource for riding the waves of loss is like having the yummiest tincture for healing one’s heart.”

—Julie Steelman, author of Wild, Sacred Beauty

Catch Me When I Fall vividly portrays the deeply personal ties that bind mothers and daughters and the heartache that Stoneham endured after her mother’s passing. Her unconquerable spirit shines in her letters to her mother and in poetry that leaves the reader yearning for her to ‘break free of the chrysalis of grief.’ We are witnesses to her transformation. We too become better people after reading her story.”

—Constance Hanstedt, author of Treading Water and Don’t Leave Yet: How My Mother’s Alzheimer’s Opened My Heart

Catch me When I Fall is a beautifully woven, poetic tapestry of a love that ultimately transcends lifelong grieving. Donna Stoneham’s soulful book is a metaphor for how a human can accept, embrace, forgive, and transform from hurt to being whole by allowing the work of divine love to carve her authentic self through the pain of forgiveness, rebirth, and finding joy.”

—Kyomi O’Connor, author of A Sky of Infinite Blue: A Japanese Immigrant’s Search for Home and Self