Messengers of Encouragement: Stories to Help Us Listen, Support and Believe in One Another

Messengers of Encouragement presents an approach to life that seeks connection and meaning through our everyday encounters. David Hagstrom, a retired educator and octogenarian living in Central Oregon, has received unexpected gifts of listening, support and encouragement throughout his life, which in turn have brought him to try to offer the same. He encourages us to believe we can all provide sustenance and inspiration to others and receive it for ourselves.In short stories spanning his everyday life as an educator in a Chicago suburb during desegregation to his farmhouse in Wisconsin to walking to school with Native families in Alaska to making friends in a French café, Hagstrom's life has been woven with messengers of encouragement. Sifting through such encounters, Hagstrom shows us that through the ordinariness of our interactions, we can have a profound effect on other people. This book will encourage readers to examine their own experiences and relations to find how they can be better listeners and people in the world. Messengers of Encouragement will leave readers thinking not only about the people who have helped them along their path, but also how they have influenced people they encounter. Hagstrom's life is a testament to the notion that we make an impact on everyone we meet. A blend of memoir, essay, and self-help, this book will fall in your hands and heart at just the right time.