Touched by Grace: From Secrecy to New Life

by Ann Showalter, John Weborg

Ann Showalter invites readers along on a roller coaster ride called AIDS. Showalter began her ride the Saturday afternoon her husband Ray said, "I have AIDS." After the first shock, Ray's revelation became a breath of fresh air for the couple. This is their story. "Along the way, Ann lets the reader overhear her own conversations and prayers about matters that are complicated, vexed, painful, and controversial. She invites our company, not necessarily our consent." -John Weborg, Twenty-Fourth Week of Pentecost, in the Foreword

196 pages, Paperback

First published March 15, 2006

Reviews

[Dnicebear · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a delicious book of a journey which involves shedding secrecy about sexual orientation, and, within religious congregations that have been helping with the cover up. It's written by the wife of the couple because the husband died of AIDS in 1984. I appreciate Ann's analysis in the last chapter: "In many ways Ray and I were ill prepared to face our struggles; in another way we had what was most important, strong foundations of faith. I am amazed that growing up in our Amish home prepared me in quite surprising ways to relate to gay and lesbian folk. I knew firsthand what it was like to live on the margins of mainstream society. Never fitting in was familiar to me. In the 1930s and 1940s when I was growing up, Amish folk were not as well known or as respected in the larger society as they are today. Instead of living with a fearful secret, I always felt overexposed because there was no way to hide my plain, unadorned clothing. I worked long and hard to overcome the German accent I had when learning to speak English in elementary school. My being different was external but left me always aware that I did not really belong.

Another plus of growing up in our family was the complete openness with which my parents welcomed anyone into our home and to our table. Their welcoming spirit somehow found its way into my heart. I did not find it difficult to feel compassion for those affected by AIDS or to relate to people who were different from me in background and culture. It is possible that some folk who read this book may be offended by the parallel I have drawn between the hospitality of my parents and my repsonse to people with AIDS and others in the gay and lesbian community. Nevertheless, it is clear to me that the openness of my parents set a dynamic precedent that affected my choices many years later."