A Well-Watered Garden: Review: Love Our Vets, Restoring Hope for Families of Veterans With PTSD by Welby O'Brien

My son David has Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He is 100% disabled. I remember clearly on the day we went to pick him up at Fort Hood on his last return home, thinking he's home, he's really home. We all knew that he was already suffering from PTSD, we knew it was probably worse after this second deployment, but we were focused on the fact he was safe and home, and would not be going back to combat. We would deal with the PTSD in the days to come. I've not counted these many days since December 2006, but it has been a long journey for all of us. Many times we've grasped for what to do, how to handle certain situations, telling ourselves we can't fix this----yet desperately wanting to fix it. We've had to be careful and guarded in who to talk to about this, most civilians have no idea what PTSD is, plus prejudice and discriminations are plentiful. When I heard about this book, Love Our Vets, I was anxious to read it. I'd been looking for a book with this information, support, and help for a long time. Thank you Welby O'Brien your book has been a blessing! I plan to pass this book along to my son and daughter in-law.

Love Our Vets, is broken down in to 3 parts: "Reaffirm" which has 63 questions and answers that are commonly asked, "Replenish" which pertains to caring for the needs of the caregiver, and "Reflect" personal stories of those affected by PTSD. The latter chapters of the book include a group discussion guide, other helpful insights, and a section entitled "A Prayer a Day."
This book is a practical and strong tool to help the person with PTSD, and those who live with or love a person with PTSD. I feel that those with PTSD and or those who are the family members of a loved one with PTSD, feel closed off from a society that does not understand. Isolation or anxiety over what others must think, probably because people have said things that were inappropriate about our loved one with PTSD. They just don't understand. Welby O'Brien understands, her beloved husband is a Vietnam Veteran that has PTSD. Welby also has a masters degree in counseling. This makes her approachable and trustworthy on this subject.

I cannot begin to express how much I feel blessed by this book. To say I love it is an understatement!
Reading it was like soothing medicine.
The 63 questions and answers given in the first part of the book was the most helpful to me. Much of the book addresses the spouse or partner of the person with PTSD, yet the book does address the parents of the person with PTSD.
The book is a quick read.
It can be used for reading it all the way through from beginning to end, or to use as a reference type book, also it can be used by a couple in reading it together and then discussion.
The author is quick to dive off into hard to ask question let alone answer. Yet, I appreciated this. After all how else will we know what to do unless someone asks and answers those hard questions.

My favorite quote:
"Faith is connection with God; love is connection with others. It is in connecting that healing and growth triumph. The comfort and closeness heals and nourishes. Ultimately, it is faith and love that provide the life line we so desperately need. The pain and struggles do not go away. But where there is comfort there is hope. Truly we can find hope and practical help for ourselves personally and for our relationships." page 18.

Thank you to Bring It On Communications! and Welby O'Brien for my free book in exchange for an honest review.