The title, Together We Can Bury It, of Kathy Fish‘s remarkable collection of fiction comes from one of my favorite stories of the author, “Blooms,” which is a story I’ve read at least a half a dozen times if not more. As such, I cannot pretend that I am coming to this collection unbiased. In fact, I not only love Kathy Fish’s work, I love her as a friend and human being.

Five years ago, just before my baby was born, a bunch of women writers I knew mostly online threw a virtual baby shower for me  in which they not only sent me generous gifts, but also shared their advice on motherhood and children. It was a complete surprise that left me feeling utterly delighted and quite loved. I will never forget one of the gifts Kathy Fish gave me; it was a story she’d written called, “Bless this Child.” Never published before or since. Generously, she gave me her beautiful words and they are extremely close to my heart still and forever more.

That is what she has done for you, too, dear reader, in this beautiful collection of short fiction. Within, you will find stories that will touch you, leave you breathless, make you laugh, make your heart ache. You will run the gamut of emotions–I promise you that–and you will find yourself living in the moment of these stories as filled with despair and hope as many of the characters are, waiting for change that may never come, but always waiting, never giving up. Just like the narrator in “Breathless,” you will have hope:

I’ll take Marta and move back to Ohio, closer to my family. Lynn can join us when school’s out. I’ll get a better job and we’ll buy a house there. Something modest, but comfortable. In summer we’ll buy fresh strawberries and we’ll eat them on the roof, under the draping branches of some enormous tree.