Here If You Need Me by Kate Braestrup

Here If You Need Me by Kate Braestrup

Ten years ago, Kate Braestrup, her husband, Drew, and their four young children were enjoying a morning like any other. Then Drew, a Maine state trooper, left for work and everything changed. On the very roads that he patrolled each day, an oncoming driver lost control, and Kate lost her husband. Stunned and grieving, Kate decided to pursue what had been her husband's dream and became a minister. And soon she found a most unusual calling: serving as chaplain for search-and-rescue missions in the Maine woods, giving comfort to people whose loved ones are missing - and to the wardens who sometimes have to deal with dreadful outcomes. Whether with parents whose six-year-old daughter has vanished into the woods, with wardens as they search for a snowmobiler trapped under the ice, or with a man whose sister left an infant seat and a suicide note in her car by the side of the road, Braestrup provides solace, understanding, and spiritual guidance when they're needed most. Here If You Need Me recounts Kate Braestrup's journey from grief to faith to happiness.

Kate Braestrup is the Maine Warden Service's chaplain and the author of the memoir Here If You Need Me and the novel Onion. She's written for publications such as the New York Times magazine, the Boston Globe Sunday magazine, O, The Oprah Magazine, Mademoiselle, More, Ms., and Law and Order: Special Victims Unit. Her husband and children live in Maine with her.