a Companion for the ache
“I am the chaser of sparrows/and I am the Sparrow/and I wrote this for you.”
For the lonely and the grieving.
For the betrayed and the anguished.
For the questioning and the curious.
For the doubter and the mystic.
For those who pray and for those who have forgotten how.
Through poetic snapshots from her own life, Grace E. Kelley seeks to catalogue all the multifaceted pains and unexpected joys that come with loving broken beings in a broken world. When distance parts, loss separates, betrayal destroys, and the deep ache required of sacrificial love feels too heavy and holy to bear—let the Sparrow lead the way. Perhaps, it is not so far after all.
Accompanied by exquisite, original artwork by the talented Bethanie Pack, as the Sparrow flies takes the reader on a journey through the nuanced layers of the grief of love. Over distance, through death, and in wounds—discover something Divine amidst all the ache.
And perhaps even more importantly, discover that you are not alone.
Praise for as the Sparrow flies —
“This is a beautiful book for the lonely, the grieving, the heartbroken, and those who are healing. As Grace elevates ordinary, everyday experiences of loss and change, friendship and motherhood, we are invited to look life’s painful realities right in the face and see love looking back at us.”
—Christie Purifoy, author of Placemaker and Garden Maker
“We need the poets to help us translate our biggest feelings, our worst days, our highest highs our ugliest doubts. Grace wraps language around the pain of friendship fractures, “she didn’t have time just then / so I let her go/ hot tears in my throat”, the ache of mothering “your roots spread and shred / and break me apart,” and all the colors of love, “Holy is the heart that breaks.” Whatever you’re in the middle of, Grace will keep you company there and help make sense of it.”
—Lisa-Jo Baker, bestselling author of Never Unfriended and co-host of the Out of the Ordinary Podcast
“I read as the Sparrow flies in one sitting and it is now a new favorite on my shelf. Within these tender pages, I found echoes of my own ache and longing—different in the details, and yet, somehow the same. Grace writes with a wisdom and hope that has been weathered. With every word, she generously holds out her hands, offering us pieces of her humanity. She sits down beside us in the shadows, and with one hand around our shoulders, reminds us how terribly stunning it is to be person and how infinitely we are held.”
—Sarah E. Westfall, author of The Way of Belonging and host of Human Together
Grace E. Kelley 