Katy Hutchison ... "Walking After Midnight"

Greetings,

It was quiet by accident that I heard Katy Hutchison being interviewed on CBC radio about her book "Walking After Midnight" ( Raincoast Books 2006, the website and its book outline are shared below.)

But when I heard her talk about her personal experience of trauma and how her belief in healing and forgiveness - combined with tenacity - has been transformative in many people's lives I just had to go and hear her in person that night at the local book store where she was speaking as part of her book promotion across Canada.

On one hand what Katy has chosen to do is incredible ... and at the same time she says she was just doing what she believed was right and she believes any of us could do the same.

Many people have told me I have done more than anyone else they know to try and protect my children, but because I could not right the wrongs done to them and myself I have experienced a great sense of failure. Sometimes it has been such a struggle to find any reason to hope .... so hard to keep holding on to the ideal that if I can just keep myself alive, just keep searching, keep "knocking" and hoping someone will answer, then maybe ... just maybe I can find a way to make something good come out my children's and my trauma. Hearing Katy speak and reading her book helped keep the flame of hope alive.

Creating this blog is an expression of me trying to find a way to use what I know - and what I wish I had never learnt - to make a difference ... because I just can't not do it!


Keep up the great work Katy!!!

www.katyhutchisonpresents.com/

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www.raincoast.com/walkingaftermidnight/index.html

"About the BookOn New Year’s Eve in 1997, Bob McIntosh was murdered while trying to break up a teenagers’ party at a friend’s house. His wife, Katy, was left a widow with four-year-old twins. In the midst of her grief, and with remarkable courage and grace, Katy began an amazing journey of forgiveness. She recognized the need to educate teens about the risks arising from the combination of youth, alcohol and lack of supervision. She began speaking to schools and other groups about social responsibility, restorative justice and the transformative power of forgiveness.Katy waited for five years while the police uncovered and convicted Bob’s killers. Ryan Aldridge was charged with Bob’s murder in 2002. Astoundingly, Katy reached out to Ryan, and they have since forged a powerful and unique relationship. Ryan has now joined Katy in her speaking engagements, and Katy supported his recent successful appeal for early parole.Walking After Midnight is the extraordinary story of a life interrupted by unthinkable tragedy, and of Katy’s commitment to turning the horror into a transformative gift. It offers a means for all of us to embrace fully the concepts of forgiveness and restorative justice."