I got a copy of Anne Lamott’s newest, Stiches, several months ago and set it aside for a quiet day when I could savor it.

Fast forward to yesterday.

Not a quiet day, but I decided I was tired of waiting to enjoy that I may never get around to and if I was serious about reading it, I needed to make it happen.

Like the previous book in this sort-of-a-series (Help Thanks Wow), Stitches can be read quickly or it can be savored a few pages at a time.

Lamott’s prose is beautiful, the words never get in the way of the point. She writes with humor and honesty.

Stitches was written in the weeks around the Sandy Hook School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. Lamott’s outrage at children being shot comes through and I share it.

But the larger message is how do we get through tough times? Heart-breaking times? How do we help a friend with a dire prognosis? What about when it’s our own problem, our diagnosis?

The short answer is we band together. We ask for help. We fetch water for a thirsty friend. We duck our heads, hold hands, and breathe.