Riding the Dog
My Father's Journey Home
Jan Groft

On a late spring day, a daughter waits at the airport for her parents' plane to land and a summer visit to begin. Before the summer is over, however, her father will come to live--and die--in her sunroom. And her newfound faith in her heavenly father will uphold her as she learns how to let go of the earthly father she adores.

But so much more happens in that brief season: a century of family memories unfolds like a beloved quilt. A father and daughter reconcile their differences about faith. A daughter takes her first tentative steps toward understanding her mother. And the story continues to unfold as several generations journey to bid good-bye to the man who has been the energetic center of their family.

Beautifully rendered by a writer who knows her craft, Riding the Dog might have succeeded as a tribute alone; but Jan Groft does not retreat from the darker corners of memory, cobwebbed with pain and remorse. Rather, she exposes them honestly to the light of God's unfailing love.

This book is for anyone who is part of a family, who longs to understand self in the midst of family, who has helped a beloved family member pass from this life to the next, or who will.

"Jan Groft speaks through every page of this warm-hearted and moving memoir with candor, humility and an abundance of grace. Her journey with her family moves not toward a death so much as toward a deeper embrace of life, both immediate and everlasting. Full of wonder and hard-won wisdom about letting go and letting faith guide the process, Groft's story is, above all, about the gifts of love in its many forms." - Ellen Lesser, author of The Blue Streak and The Shoplifter's Apprentice.