Kate Braestrup

This book is a gem! It is sad, it is poignant, it is heartwarming, it is spiritual in a deep abiding way without the trappings of New Age mantras and without the heavy handed preachy manner of well-intended, but misguided organized religion.

Kate Braestrup blesses the reader by allowing them to walk with her on the journey beginning with the day her beloved state trouper husband was tragically killed in an auto accident, leaving her and four children to grieve, to find lessons and to move show more forward in life.

As her life dramatically changed, Kate became a Maine Game Warden Service Chaplain and a Unitarian-Universalist minister. Through wonderful, crisp, heart felt writing, Braestrup takes us with her into the lives of those who rescue, who search the cold woods, frozen lakes and Maine environment to find those lost as she ministers to the families, to the brave people who help and to simply be there both when the outcome is good and when the hoped for result does not occur.

The prevailing theme of loss is woven with the abundant hope of gain, of falling down and of getting up, and, of searching and sometimes finding what is least expected. show less

Anchor and Flares is fantastic. It was also a good reminder for me of why Kate Braestrup's earlier book Here If You Need Me, is one of my favorites. Although Braestrup's writing falls under the category of memoir, it is always much more. In Anchor and Flares, the pivotal event of her oldest son's decision to join the Marines sets the stage for a wide-ranging and incisive commentary on men and women, parenting, violence, military service and other kinds of service, prayer (she is a Unitarian show more Universalist chaplain), and a host of other topics. Anticipation of her first grandchild is also a thread that Braestrup weaves through this narrative, complete with letters she writes to her son (the marine) and his wife to pass on what wisdom she has gained from parenting four children--both with her first husband, and as a widow--and two step-children. Braestrup's Unitarian Universalism is more Christian than not, but her writing is very accessible to nonbelievers like me, and her analysis of several Biblical stories and religious ideas were enlightening and insightful. Finally, on top of all the sheer smartness (she's a big history buff too) and good writing, Anchor and Flares passed the "it made me laugh and it made me cry" test, which for me is a reliable indicator of good stuff. show less

This book was a quick read and just what I needed. This book reminded me of my work as a doula, how most of it was just being there while my clients' worlds changed completely.

A bit that I loved:

"I am a transitional love object, an objet d'amour...what a strange privilege to be so used.

The lieutenant will muse, as we drive south together, 'It's like standing right on the hinge of someone's life. You know? Right there on the hinge, while the whole world swings around, and that widow, or that

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mother or dad's life is suddenly completely different, permanently different.'" (p 96-97)

As I read about Braestrup embracing and physically bracing people in joy or grief depending on the news she had to deliver, I think of the time a laboring mother put her arms around my neck and used my body to support her weight through a contraction. We danced there together, shifting our weight from foot to foot, and I felt blessed to dance with her on the hinge of her life.

Now I need to write a thank-you note to the friend who handed this book directly to me at the church Book Sale instead of putting it in the "Memoirs" section to sell.

The only complaint I have with this book is the three typos I found in the last chapter, which made for a clunky ending to an otherwise exquisite book.

One more line that I love, which refers to a detective and breastfeeding mother who solved a homicide:

"If we were a sensible culture, little girls would play with Anna Love action figures, badge in one hand, breast pump in the other."(p 177)

Indeed. show less

Kate Braestrup has written a fine memoir of her path to becoming the Chaplain of the Maine State Warden Service (the game wardens). A Unitarian Universalist, Braestrup went to seminary after her Maine State Trooper husband was killed in a car crash. At first she said she was fulfilling his dream because he could not, but she soon realized that she had found her calling. With earthy humor and deep empathy in equal portions, Braestrup tells what it's like to be on the scene at search and show more rescue operations, both when the rescue is successful and when it isn't. She also shows a deep love and respect for her brothers and sisters in law enforcement. When this book came out, of course it was widely publicized here in Maine, but it's not just a "Maine book," a "clergy" book, or a "widow's" book. It's a human book, and almost anyone would be better off for reading it. show less