I’ll See You Again by Jackie Hance is an intensely emotional memoir in which Jackie herself tells the story of losing her three young, beautiful girls: Emma, age 8; Alyson, age 7; and Katie, age 5, and the heartbreaking struggle it was to find the light of life once again afterwards. This story touched my heart, broke my heart, and made me believe in the hope of a better tomorrow even in the most impossible of times.
I listened to the audiobook of I’ll See You Again and it was narrated by Jackie Hance and I can’t even begin to explain how much this affected me. You can literally feel her pain as she’s reflecting back on the events that led to losing her girls and then the unbelievable pain of making it through each day from that point on. To have Jackie telling the story just broke my heart and made it so real. These were her children, her babies … her life.
You don’t think there is anything to fear when you send your kids off with their aunt on a camping trip. They should be safe. Yet that wasn’t the case for Jackie’s girls when they are killed in a crash on the way home and even worse when medical findings shatter that illusion of safety in family. Jackie’s world is turned upside down in a second, her faith is shaken to its core, and Jackie doesn’t feel as though she can face another day on earth without her girls.
This was immensely hard to listen to and yet I am so glad I did because while it is a story of unbearable loss, it is also a story of hope, love, and community. The friends that surround Jackie and her husband Warren are amazing people who stood by and supported them through every awful minute of this devastating and horrific time in any way they could. It’s hard to wrap your head around something like this happening to anyone and knowing in your heart the unbelievable pain they suffered. I am truly inspired by both Jackie and Warren that they came out on the other side of this – they did survive it. They lived to talk about it and to try to heal from it and ultimately learn to move forward and live their lives once again. They amaze me and their hope in the future now lies in the miracle of their fourth daughter Kasey Rose but never will the lives of their three beautiful girls: Emma, Alyson, and Katie be forgotten.
If you enjoy memoirs I’ll See You Again is worth listening to. It’s made all the more powerful that it’s narrated by Jackie Hance. She adds an element that is so deeply personal to this story that wouldn’t have been achieved otherwise. Yes it’s sad and heartbreaking – you will need a box of tissues – but it’s also hopeful and inspiring. Many prayers go out to this family for their continued healing and happiness.
Buy at: Simon & Schuster, Audible, and iTunes
Source: Review copy provided by Simon & Schuster. No compensation was received and all opinions are my own.
That sounds so heartbreaking! I can’t imagine how Hance found the strength to go on after that.
Holy Lord, I don’t know if I could get through this. I almost had to turn away from your review, after I saw those girls’ sweet little faces. It would be inspiring though to know that this poor woman got through it…
What a beautiful review. I know I will never read the book, as I too have lost a child. Thank you for very eloquently and tenderly introducing this book to your followers. At my darkest moment I can not fathom losing all three.
I don’t think I could read this, too heartbreaking! But I’m glad it was inspirational for you.
I can’t even start to know how someone could go through losing all of your children , must less all at once. They had to have a very strong faith in GOD, How heartbreaking!
We all know these thing absolutely happen, but we don’t think about it every time our loved ones go somewhere. There are a lot of people I’ve heard about that this happened to. Knew of one young couple who had 7 year old boys who started a fire in their upstairs room and couldn’t be saved. The whole little town was so sad. It almost drove the father crazy for he was home and couldn’t get to them. They had blocked their door and the firefighters it burned so fast he would have died also. Other families lost 4 to 7. I am so glad GOD blessed them with another child. She won’t take the hurt of the others missing, but will feel their home with love and laughter once again. The silence would be too hard to handle the other way. Don’t see how she could talk about it tho in order to make an Audio book. No-one would have been able to understand my words for I cry too easily. I would like to read this book tho. Maxie