November 10, 2024
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LocalLit book preview: a 40-year journey to forgiving the man that killed her friend

‘Miracle: The Long Journey Home’ by Maureen Kincaid is a ‘personal narrative of tragedy and loss’

By Denise M. Baran-Unland
It took 40 years but Maureen Kincaid was finally able to forgive the killer of her friend and find healing from the trauma Kincaid experienced that November night in 1979.

It took 40 years but Maureen Kincaid was finally able to forgive the killer of her friend and find healing from the trauma Kincaid experienced that November night in 1979. (Photo provided)

On the night of Nov. 29, 1979, I was a freshman at Providence High School in New Lenox.

It was also the same night another Illinois teen’s life ended when the burglar at the McDonald’s where she was working shot and killed her.

I remember reading about this event after it happened. A friend of the teen, who was also working that night and was locked up in a cooler with her other co-workers, has just published a book about her four-decade long process from trauma to forgiveness.

The book is called “Miracle: The Long Journey Home.” It’s author is Maureen Kincaid. And it’s this book I’ll be reviewing on Tuesday in the LocalLit newsletter. I

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Here is the book’s abridged Amazon description: “‘Miracle: The Long Journey Home’ is a personal narrative of tragedy and loss and one survivor’s forty-year journey from trauma and hatred to joy and love through the grace of God. As a seventeen-year-old, the author was the victim of gun violence resulting in the death of a friend and coworker when an armed assailant entered the McDonald’s restaurant at which she worked in 1979.

“The story tells of the trauma experienced by all present that night and the long journey that the author would take over forty years, leading her back to the gunman who committed the crimes and back to our Heavenly Father. Parallel to the author’s story is the gunman’s background and experience from childhood through his spiritual conversion while incarcerated.”

Know more about LocalLit

Each week LocalLit will deliver an original short and family-friendly story (or a book review) by a local author to the newsletter’s subscribers.

Authors with a connection to our readership area may submit. Submission does not guarantee acceptance.

Contact Denise M. Baran-Unland at 815-280-4122 or dunland@shawmedia.com.

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