The Giving Tree meets Eat, Pray, Love in a brazenly honest, refreshingly irreverent, and even hilarious look at going “through” versus going “down.”

Tricia LaVoice’s life turned upside-down when her parents were tragically killed in an automobile accident. Her close relationships with her mother and father made everyday life afterwards a challenge.

Happily married and with a beautiful baby girl, Tricia had no time to fall apart. Over the years as her family grew, Tricia met two strong, dynamic women, both survivors of their own life challenges, whose wonderful friendships and unconditional maternal love and strength guide her to trust in life.

But tragedy strikes Tricia’s family again, shaking her faith in life once more. It was during this time of suffering and loneliness that she found an unexpected respite in nature, in the form of a beautiful pine tree Tricia named Martha. This rare bond inspires Tricia who literally talks to Martha daily as she heals the hurt in her heart. Tricia learns to listen to her inner voice, and heals herself by finding her source of courage and strength is within her. "Disarmingly quirky, funny, and honest. LaVoice moves back and forth through the timeline of her grief. After the Connecticut move, the prose is particularly poignant: 'only my own voice accompanied me on those walks, and the panic rot in my stomach, which was a reminder of everyone who was gone forever.' Gradually, the author begins to focus on nature's ability to adapt to the changing seasons, and she effectively tells of how she used this understanding to build her own mechanisms for coping with grief—more acceptance, less denial. She also tells of how yoga added to her strength by making her focus more on concentration and less on meditation. A touching and ultimately uplifting portrait of loss and self-discovery."