Her name was Laura

Stuart Walker lets the reader inside his grief -- a grief intensified by the sudden, tragic circumstances of his daughter's death. As he recounts the numbness in the hours that follow, the activity of making funeral arrangements, Walker allows the reader to become more than an observer. The comfort of family and friends, the support of the community, the consolation of the Gospel through the Christian funeral rite provide strength and offer peace. For Walker, Laura's journal, written privately during the last months of her life, sheds light on her spiritual development and her own sense of peace. And, a way is opened for her bereaved father to move from the pain of loss to share her sense of joy and to know that same peace.