Here is a simple and moving document about an experience which, at one time or another is common to all human beings - the loss of a loved one. This book recounts the tragic loss of the author's daughter, Rose Brickner, who died at the age of thirty-one of a fatal and painful disease, At the time of her death, this young woman did not know she was suffering from cancer.

Mary L. Elchert has sketched a memorable portrait of how Rose's death touched her immediate family (Fran, her husband, and their six young children; and her devoted parents), and how the family met this unforeseen tragedy in their lives. In confronting adversity the family went on not only to survive but to endure.

In a poignant, affectionate memoir, the author reminds us that human beings can be brave and kind and tender when fate deals its heavy blows. This warmly inspiring book depicts that quality in human beings not often emphasized in contemporary writing nobility. Anyone who has suffered the loss of a parent, child or mate will find comfort and solace in these pages.

Mrs. Elchert, who calls children "truly a miraculous gift from God," raised a family of eleven children of her own, four daughters and seven sons. Her book is rich in detail about her own girlhood, her marriage, bearing and raising children, and relationships maturing within the family. More than the recounting of a single tragic event, I LOVE YOU, MOM brims with warm humor and is full of the fondly remembered pleasures of family life in an age of innocence.

With warm and deep affection the author describes her close relationship with her son-in-law, Fran Brickner, and how they faced the tragedy of Rose's death together and were able to give comfort and strength to each other.
Offering her book to "other women of ordinary and routine lives," Mrs. Elchert writes:

"Goodness inspires no conflicts, arouses no criminal passions, fires no cities, sends no men to slay or be slain. The struggle of a mother with an enemy called measles is undramatic; the conquest of dinner dishes or a dusty carpet seems completely to miss romance."

For all readers who enjoy an uplifting and absorbing story filled with humor, suspense, and real sentiment this book is recommended. It is a book not only of heartbreak but also of affirmation and hope.

Here goodness prevails.