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Overview
There is us. Our Family. We will hold our precious gift and know that we are lucky . . .
From the outside looking in, Kelle Hampton had the perfect life: a beautiful two-year-old daughter, a loving husband, and a thriving photography career. When she learned she was pregnant with their second child, they were ecstatic. But when their new daughter was placed in her arms in the delivery room, Kelle knew instantly that something was wrong. Nella looked different than her sister, Lainey, had at birth. As her friends and family celebrated, a terrified Kelle was certain that Nella had Down syndrome—a fear her pediatrician soon confirmed. Yet gradually Kelle embraced the realization that she had been chosen to experience an extraordinary and special gift.
With lyrical prose and gorgeous photography, Bloom takes readers on a wondrous journey through Nella's first year of life—a gripping, hilarious, and intensely poignant trip of transformation in which a mother learns that perfection comes in all different shapes.
Synopsis
“In her tender and genuinely beautiful memoir, Kelle Hampton encourages us to not simply accept the unexpected circumstances of our lives, but to embrace them like the things we wished for all along.”
—Matthew Logelin, New York Times bestselling author of Two Kisses for Maddy
Bloom is an inspiring and heartfelt memoir that celebrates the beauty found in the unexpected, the strength of a mother’s love, and, ultimately, the amazing power of perspective. The author of the popular blog Enjoying the Small Things—named The Bump’s Best Special Needs Blog and The Blog You’ve Learned the Most From in the 2010 BlogLuxe Awards—Kelle Hampton interweaves lyrical prose and stunning four-color photography as she recounts the unforgettable story of the first year in the life of her daughter Nella, who has Down syndrome. Poignant, eye-opening, and heart-soaring, Hampton’s Bloom is ultimately about embracing life and really living it.
Editorials
From Barnes & Noble
When the pediatrician said, "I need to tell you something," Kelle Hampton began to cry hard: "I know what you're going to say." The pediatrician smiled and again and squeezed my hand a little tighter: "The first thing I'm going to tell you is that your daughter is beautiful and perfect"—and Kelle cried harder—"...but there are some features that lead me to believe that she may have Down Syndrome." This memoir by Kelle retrieves the inspiring story about how she and her family came to recognize the beauty and perfection in the young girl now sharing their lives. Editor's recommendation. Now in trade paperback and NOOK Book.
Ree Drummond
"Bloom is one of the most emotionally stirring books I’ve ever read…. This story is a reminder that perfect, when it comes to human beings, is such a relative (and irrelevant) term…and that a mother’s love for her child is a powerful, eternal, unshakable force."Claire Fontaine
"Kelle Hampton…reminds us that life may not always look pretty or perfect, but it is always beautiful…. She has indeed made of her life something ‘wild and precious’ and her book, like her two beautiful girls, is a bundle of joy. I finished it reluctantly and with a full heart."Matthew Logelin
"In her tender and genuinely beautiful memoir, Kelle Hampton encourages us to not simply accept the unexpected circumstances of our lives, but to embrace them like the things we wished for all along."People
“A constitutionally positive person…Hampton makes a convincing argument that grief and disappointment can be transformed into compassion and joy.”