The widow of "American Sniper" Chris Kyle shares their private story: an unforgettable testament to the power of love and faith in the face of war and unimaginable loss - and a moving tribute to a man whose true heroism ran even deeper than the legend.
In early 2013, Taya Kyle and her husband, Chris, were the happiest they ever had been. Their decade-long marriage had survived years of war that took Chris, a U.S. Navy Seal, away from Taya and their two children for agonizingly long stretches while he put his life on the line in many major battles of the Iraq War. After struggling to readjust to life out of the military, Chris had found new purpose in redirecting his lifelong dedication to service toward supporting veterans and their families. Their love had deepened, and their family was whole, finally.
Then, the unthinkable. On February 2, 2013, Chris and his friend Chad Littlefield were killed while attempting to help a troubled vet. The life Chris and Taya fought so hard to build was shattered. In an instant, Taya became a single parents of two. A widow. A young woman facing the rest of her life without the man she loved.
Chris and Taya's remarkable story has captivated millions through Clint Eastwood's blockbuster Academy Award-winning film American Sniper, starring Bradley Cooper as Chris and Sienna Miller as Taya, and because of Chris's bestselling memoir, in which Taya contributed passages that formed the book's emotional core. Taya writes in never-before-told detail about the hours,, days, and months after Chris's shocking death when grief threatened to overwhelm her.
And yet throughout, friendship, family, and deepening faith were lifelines that sustained her and the kids when the sorrow became too much. Two years after er husband's tragic death, Taya has found renewed meaning and connection to Chris by advancing their shared mission of "serving those who serve others,"particularly military and first-responder families. She and the children are now embracing a new future, one that honors the past but also looks forward with hope, gratitude, and joy.
American Wife is one of the most remarkable memoirs of the year - a universal chronicle of love and heartbreak, service and sacrifice, faith and purpose that will inspire every reader.
Book Review:
I read American Sniper last year, before I started this blog, and it tore me to shreds. I have many people in my family that have served. I have friends or kids that I have known my entire life who are serving or currently in the process of enlisting. Though I may not be their spouse or child, I care for all of them and fear what can happen. I know many of the emotions that Taya describes in this memoir and reading Chris's memoir, I now have a new found knowledge of what those I care about may go through, even though none of them are SEALs.
I cried when I read Chris's words in American Sniper; I cried when I watched the movie adaption with Bradley Cooper, and I once again cried as I read Taya's pain. I think what hit me the most is hearing Taya talk about how her daughter, Angel, dealt with her father's death. I am a very big daddy's girl and I don't know what I would do without my father. In all honesty, I don't think that I would ever be able to talk about him the way Angel does. She hears him. She feels him. And she keeps on going. I think that if I were to have that sort of connection with my deceased father, I wouldn't be able to move on. Then again, maybe it would help me move on. I don't know.
I really feel for all of those who have had to move on without Chris. He seems like the type of person that I would want to spend every minute of my life with and it kills me that Taya can't. He was such a strong and patriotic person. He seemed very humble and loving. I wish that I could have met him.
Taya's strength is inspiring. She raised her children through the toughest moments of her life. She finished Chris's project and continues to pay tribute to him. She told the good and the bad of their marriage. Everything about her words, were heartbreaking, fulfilling, and strengthening.
Pages: 329 Rate: 5/5
Favorite Quote:
“Sometime after Chris died, one of his friends said something offhanded about us having to leave our house. I was shocked, and demanded to know why.
“Because a ghost lives there,” he said.
He was speaking metaphorically about all of our memories. But that was exactly why I did not want to leave. I still felt Chris very strongly there, and I didn’t want to lose that.
By the fall of 2014, I realized that I feel Chris strongly everywhere I go. He’s so much a part of me that I can’t lose him. Physical places may suggest memories, but that’s all they do: suggest. The experiences are already deeply embedded in my brain and soul.”
I have lost a lot of people in my life and I have felt like I would never be able to move from my bed again. I have known that lost. But because I have known that loss, I have also known the beautiful feel that Taya describes above. Feeling a deceased loved one's presence is sometimes the only way that I have been able to get out of bed and move forward. I highly recommend that you read this memoir, not because their lives are interesting, but because their strength and the way she describes her thought process is truly knowledgeable. You may just learn something about yourself.
