Seven years ago my family entered a season we did not expect and were not prepared for. When your daughter disappears in front of you - slowly and quietly - you enter a kind of darkness no one prepares you for. It's a darkness full of fear, helplessness, and a love so fierce it has nowhere to go.
Held in the Dark is our story of what happened when we walked into that darkness and what we found on the other side. I am incredibly proud to share that Held in the Dark: Finding Light and Hope While Supporting Your Adolescent Through an Eating Disorder, a book written by my wife Jennifer Longenecker and my daughter Heather Elizabeth, is now available at Amazon, at Walmart, and at Barnes & Noble.
This book is a very personal story, but more than that, It is the guide we desperately wish we had seven years ago when our family began the heart-wrenching journey of navigating an eating disorder.
At the time we felt completely alone. We didn’t understand the illness, the stigma surrounding it, the impact it would have on our daughter, or the profound toll it would take on our entire family. We didn’t know where to find help, what treatments to pursue, or how to prepare for the setbacks and victories that lay ahead.
Written together from both the child’s and the parent’s perspective, Held in the Dark offers an honest, deeply personal account of that journey. But more importantly, it offers understanding, practical guidance, and hope to families facing an extremely challenging experience.
If sharing our story helps even one family feel less alone, find support sooner, or hold onto hope during their darkest moments, then every page will have been worth writing. Held in the Dark is available now for pre-order. We hope it becomes for others the companion we wish we had when our journey began.
