“H is for Hawk” was the author’s story of how she lost her father and spiraled into deep, inconsolable grief. In her despair she withdrew from society, and she decided to train a goshawk. Helen had always loved falconry and had raised other hawks before. Through her work with the bird and the care of friends, Helen finally realized that running away from the world and her grief was not the way to get over her father’s death. Instead she needed human companionship. Helen also discovered that the patience her father had tried to teach her when she was a child, was exactly what she had needed to remember as she grieved. It took time to heal, and it required patience.
