All Is Well

A memoir of a journey through mourning a parent's sudden passing from ALS, and finding faith and guidance in the process.

Kevin P. Martin, Sr. was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's Disease, better known as ALS, in August 2019. He died only a month later. A thousand people would attend the funeral-Kevin Sr. father was a leader in the South Boston community, in the Catholic church, as a professional and a family man. But Kevin Jr. struggled with a bottomless grief; neither his father's example nor Kevin's faith as a deacon in Archdiocese of Boston equipped him to cope with the loss.

All Is Well is the story of Kevin Sr.'s well-lived life and how his son regained his faith in God after his father's death. It is a memoir that offers a roadmap out of grief, taking a path whose landmarks are beatitudes, Bible verses, and lessons and insights into leadership, taken from the life and career of a consummate leader. It paints a portrait of a consummate professional and family man, and sheds light on the up-close realities of ALS. It offers one exceptional father's example for how we can better live our lives, how we can make the best of the time we have, and how we can do the most good with what we're given.

Part Tuesday's With Morrie and part Townie, this memoir offers solace and a path for those who are experiencing or have experienced grief from losing a parent, especially to terminal illness. Those that believe in a higher power, especially but not limited to the Catholic community, and those from Boston and elsewhere in New England, will readily find themselves in All is Well.