Bloom: Finding Beauty in the Unexpected--A Memoir [Hardcover]

Kelle Hampton (Author)

Book Description

Release date: April 3, 2012

“In her tender and genuinely beautiful memoir, Kelle Hampton encourages us to not simply accept the unexpected circumstances of our lives, but to embrace them like the things we wished for all along.”
—Matthew Logelin, New York Times bestselling author of Two Kisses for Maddy

Bloom is an inspiring and heartfelt memoir that celebrates the beauty found in the unexpected, the strength of a mother’s love, and, ultimately, the amazing power of perspective. The author of the popular blog Enjoying the Small Things—named The Bump’s Best Special Needs Blog and The Blog You’ve Learned the Most From in the 2010 BlogLuxe Awards—Kelle Hampton interweaves lyrical prose and stunning four-color photography as she recounts the unforgettable story of the first year in the life of her daughter Nella, who has Down syndrome. Poignant, eye-opening, and heart-soaring, Hampton’s Bloom is ultimately about embracing life and really living it.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Bloom is one of the most emotionally stirring books I’ve ever read…. This story is a reminder that perfect, when it comes to human beings, is such a relative (and irrelevant) term…and that a mother’s love for her child is a powerful, eternal, unshakable force.” (Ree Drummond, New York Times bestselling author of The Pioneer Woman Cooks)

“Kelle Hampton…reminds us that life may not always look pretty or perfect, but it is always beautiful…. She has indeed made of her life something ‘wild and precious’ and her book, like her two beautiful girls, is a bundle of joy. I finished it reluctantly and with a full heart.” (Claire Fontaine, national bestselling author of Come Back: A Mother and Daughter's Journey Through Hell and Back)

“In her tender and genuinely beautiful memoir, Kelle Hampton encourages us to not simply accept the unexpected circumstances of our lives, but to embrace them like the things we wished for all along.” (Matthew Logelin, New York Times bestselling author of Two Kisses for Maddy)

“A constitutionally positive person…Hampton makes a convincing argument that grief and disappointment can be transformed into compassion and joy.” (People (3 stars))

#11 New York Times Bestseller (New York Times)

A USA Today Bestseller (USA Today)

“Bloom is not only about a particular young mother working through the place of hurt …it is about all of us…. [A] powerful meditation on loss, perspective, challenge and opportunity. Give it to anyone you know who is hurting.” (Fort Myers Florida Weekly)

“In Bloom, a searing and brave portrait of her baby’s first year, Hampton opens up about her fears…jubilation, and…‘the throbbing pain of losing what I had expected.’ Filled with personal photos from the delivery room through Nella’s first birthday, Bloom gives…new meaning to the term ‘open book.’” (BookPage)

Winner of 2012 Mom’s Choice Silver Award, Biographies & Memoirs (Mom's Choice Awards)

From the Back Cover

Love me. Love me. I'm not what you expected, but oh, please love me.

That was the most defining moment of my life. That was the beginning of my story.

From the outside looking in, Kelle Hampton had the perfect life: a beautiful two-year-old daughter, a loving husband, a thriving photography career, and great friends. When she learned she was pregnant with her second child, she and her husband, Brett, were ecstatic. Her pregnancy went smoothly and the ultrasounds showed a beautiful, healthy, high-kicking baby girl.

But when her new daughter was placed in her arms in the delivery room, Kelle knew instantly that something was wrong. Nella looked different than her two-year-old sister, Lainey, had at birth. As she watched friends and family celebrate with champagne toasts and endless photographs, a terrified Kelle was certain that Nella had Down syndrome—a fear her pediatrician soon confirmed. Yet gradually Kelle's fear and pain were vanquished by joy, as she embraced the realization that she had been chosen to experience an extraordinary and special gift.

With lyrical prose and gorgeous full-color photography, Bloom takes readers on a wondrous journey through Nella's first year of life—a gripping, hilarious, and intensely poignant trip of transformation in which a mother learns that perfection comes in all different shapes. It is a story about embracing life and really living it, of being fearless and accepting difference, of going beyond constricting definitions of beauty, and of the awesome power of perspective. As Kelle writes, "There is us. Our Family. We will embrace this beauty and make something of it. We will hold our precious gift and know that we are lucky."

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow (April 3, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0062045032
• ISBN-13: 978-0062045034
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 7.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (179 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #80,271 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Writer and photographer Kelle Hampton chronicles the simple joys of motherhood and daily life on her popular blog, Enjoying the Small Things. She has been recognized as a Babble Top 50 Mom Blogger, and the blog was named The Bump's Best Special Needs Blog and The Blog You've Learned the Most From in the 2010 BlogLuxe Awards. An advocate for individuals with Down syndrome, she has been honored by both the National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS) and the National Down Syndrome Congress (NDSC), receiving the NDSC National Media Award in 2010. She has been featured in Parents magazine, Yahoo's Shine, Nickelodeon's ParentsConnect, Babble.com, Babycenter.com, and AOL ParentDish, and has been interviewed on CNN as a "Connector of the Day" and on Rosie O'Donnell's Sirius XM radio program, Rosie Radio. Hampton lives in Naples, Florida with her husband Brett; their two daughters, Lainey and Nella, and her stepsons, Austyn and Brandyn.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

99 of 117 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Not what I expected April 15, 2012

By Kerryann Kenney VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I recognize that I am giving this book a low rating and I apologize for hurt feelings. However, after reading the reviews and ordering the book (and as someone who has not read Kellie's blog), I expected this memoir to contain more information about her child.

This book is heavily focused on Kellie processing her feelings about her baby's Down Syndrome. I felt as if the book was 80% "I am so shocked/sad/adjusting my expectations/crying" + "my amazing friends came and told me they loved my baby just as she was"

After I read her book, I visited her blog and read that. I preferred her blog. Her mature perspective on her family was brilliant. Her shocked perspective as captured by the first year of her daughter's life made me sad. I think if you are a long time reader of her site, you probably feel like you are friends with her you will love it. If you are new to her site and looking for a book about raising a child with DS, I suggest you read Road Map to Holland: How I Found My Way Through My Son's First Two Years With Down Syndrome.

54 of 65 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Uplifting in concept, disappointing in practice April 29, 2012

By The Enthusiastic Reader

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I will first say that there are some very visceral and powerful passages in this book, the most poignant being Kelle's vivid description of the first 48 hours of Nelle's life. However, I found two fatal flaws with the book that overall left me with a feeling of disappointment upon it's completion:

1) The book does not technically do what the publisher's description promises, which is, "[take] readers on a wondrous journey through Nella's first year of life...in which a mother learns that perfection comes in all different shapes." Quite simply, there is very little detail about Nella herself and very few vignettes about Nelle's journey. The story is more about how Kelle became comfortable "being a parent of a child with Down Syndrome" rather than becoming comfortable "being Nella's mother." Kelle focuses primarily on how the outer world perceives her, rather than her journey accepting her specific daughter in all her wonderful perfection and imperfection. I do think she makes some progress towards this end along the way, but the book centers on her own internal struggles to be ok being a mom to an "imperfect child," and thus an imperfect life.

2) The author is unsympathetic and naiive in her "I'll ignore all research / resources on Down Syndrome and do this my own way" approach. While I believe that in the first few shocking weeks/months of adjustment parents should be able to grieve their situation and come to acceptance in whatever way feels right to them, Kelle's utter refusal to do even preliminary research into Down Syndrome holds with it strong repercussions that she doesn't acknowledge. When you decide to forgo the potential benefits of literature and resources on the psychosocial and physical aspects of a disability, I feel you must own the risks that you are taking.... In this case, I feel the risk she took was that she remained uninformed about her daughter's potentially bright future for a much longer time than she would have if she had faced the resources earlier (yes, I read the passage where she stayed up late and looked at internet resources, but I feel she should have gone with the ones medical professionals had specifically suggested rather than reading the depressing Special Olympics youtube comments). By secluding herself from others with Down Syndrome and resolving to "do it her own way," she remained in an isolated bubble where her lack of information, in my opinion, fed into her insecurities and fears for her daughter. I have worked and volunteered with children with various developmental disabilities and I am no stranger to how difficult it can be, but I have also had wonderfully positive experiences...just like with "normal" kids.

I'm really confused as to why her example is held up as extraordinarily positive, because while she repeatedly proclaims that her outlook is positive, there was a strong undercurrent of fear and denial throughout the story. She was afraid to even face children and adults with Down Syndrome until she went to the large conference near Nella's first birthday, and I think it is no coincidence that this experience represented a turning point for her.

I do believe that some people will find this story helpful, particularly in the author's honesty and ability to admit the feelings that many might feel uncomfortable admitting. She also has some great descriptions of her interactions with her husband. Overall, however, I would recommend Martha Beck's "Expecting Adam," which I feel is better written, more interesting and faces the issue more head on. Read more ›

56 of 68 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars If this is what Kelle Hampton fever is all about, I don't think I want to catch it. April 26, 2012

By April R.

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Did I read a completely different book than other reviewers here? Bloom does not impart "unexpected wisdom" and it isn't a truly "transformative" memoir. It isn't the triumphant and inspiring look at overcoming challenges that I expected to read.

Hampton is shattered - paralyzed - by her daughter's Down syndrome diagnosis, because it puts a wrench into the blueprint she'd created for the perfect life. Rather than "a love story between mother and child," Bloom is like reading a 278 page transcript from a counseling session where Hampton tries to justify her mistakes and figure out how to love herself and her "new" life. I guess the reader is supposed to forgive her as she forgives herself for her struggling and selfishness. I hoped while reading the book that Hampton would come to some significant realizations by the end, but it didn't really happen. She reveals that she isn't particularly proud of some of the things she's done (or thought) in the past, but she makes no apologies and basically says that she has good intentions and is starting to learn, so she chooses to rock her life and doesn't care what anyone else thinks of her. She never really faces that Down syndrome is a part of her life.

I don't understand all the hype about Hampton, who comes off in this book as insulated, self absorbed, immature and spoiled. In fairness, she is creative and a talented photographer, and her love for her family is clear. But Hampton revels in center stage throughout the book as she explores her own slowly evolving "transformation." In the end, she realizes that Down syndrome is not going to ruin her life, and that she may be able to face a different future than the one she wanted and planned.... While it may be helpful for others to see that Hampton's fears about life with Nella were somewhat overblown, it is very odd that Hampton is being heralded for the realization. She's become a sort of celebrity, and she's bought into it (the book's Thank You section at the end was her version of an Academy Awards speech - ?).

Nella, the little girl with Down syndrome, is teaching her mom and the rest of the world about the beauty in *all* people. She is the real star of this show. I wish there'd been more about her. Instead of "a testament to the miraculous healing power of family, friendships, women, and forgiveness" (as another reviewer suggested), Bloom felt like a testament to the masking power of frothy cold ones, lipstick, false mantras, and Hampton's need to control everything in her path. Rating this book is as complicated as reading it. Hampton earns a point for candor, but loses it for lack of humility. What she earns for showing the ugly, she loses for painting it over. In the end, this back and forth of appreciating her honesty (and feeling compassion for her as a person), coupled with an overwhelming sense of her inability to see outside herself, made me question the depth of her transformation. Strangely, this book details the author's drunken escapades alongside more tender moments with her family, and is entirely focused in one way or another on the author's blooming, or pseudo-blooming (depending on how much the reader buys into the idea that Down syndrome is an enormous tragedy).

Adjusting to new realities and a new sense of normal is hard in general. But discovering your own faults and making the decision to love a child with Down syndrome is not heroic or Oscar worthy. This was an easy book to read, contains lovely photographs, and was entertaining in parts, but the lesson of the story was tainted by the author's hubris. There are much more inspiring stories out there, and there are other more realistic positive portrayals of coming to terms with a Down syndrome diagnosis. I'd recommend looking elsewhere. Read more ›

47 of 57 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Terrible writing but beautiful pictures July 12, 2012

By Mamalovesbooks

Format:Hardcover

I am an avid reader of memoirs and also the mother of a child with Down Syndrome. While I could identify with some of the basic tenets of what the author experienced with regard to her grieving process and could appreciate the amount of soul-bearing involved to share some of that, to a large extent it felt over the top. I don't know if it was the fact that the writing was just so bad or if it was some sort of reflection on the author and where she is at on a maturity level. There was way too much drama, way too many long-winded introductions of various friends who were part of her "net", too little in the way making any sort of real spiritual or emotional conclusions as to how this child changed her, too many beer and "dude" references... and way to much of what another reviewer aptly called "The Kelle Show." It just felt narcissistic to me. I was looking for what I found in "Roadmap to Holland" and "Expecting Adam." It just wasn't there. I think this author has much growing up to do in terms of life living, emotional maturity and thinking outside of herself before she can write a decent memoir that draws the reader in, leaves them with some piece of insight. This read like the diary of a 9th grade girl, which was disappointing, particularly given what was supposed to be the subject matter. It was long winded, redundant, sophomoric and clearly terribly edited.

The photography is spectacular. I will say that.