Frames

On August 21, 2004, Marilyn Jansma stopped to pay toll on a Chicago highway. Kevin Jansma played blocks with their son, Trey, on the living room floor. A car mechanic, spent from an all-night birthday celebration, left work and fell asleep at the wheel.

FRAMES presents a real-life tragedy and its hopeful end by allowing the central characters to speak for themselves. Firsthand accounts stand side by side, forming an elegant and complex narrative collage. Interviews with the young widower and mechanic, as well as excerpts from Marilyn’s journals and other primary source materials, draw the reader in with their highly personal revelations.
Part oral history, part elegy, FRAMES shows that the many snapshots of our lives rarely stand alone, and one picture of death, drugs and forgiveness has lessons for us all.

“I found myself inhaling the pages of this book, surprised by the suspense and humanity. Redemption hovers everywhere—not the sentimental kind but a raw and real redemption. This book is well worth reading.” –Jerry Sittser, Author of A Grace Disguised and A Grace Revealed
 
"I wept. This book is a gift." --Matthew Floding, Director of Ministerial Formation and Field Education, Duke Divinity School