Running Rebel and Mad Dog: A Memoir of Heirlooms Left Behind

Isobella Jade details her emotional journey through sudden loss and the objects found in her father's car after he unexpectedly died in a fire at his home. Jade's bittersweet tale is at once a meditation on loss and making sense of grief through heirlooms and of turning a tragic event into one of life's richest experiences.

A tattered wallet, a Giants hat, a pocket knife, a jacket, a clipboard, a thermos and other unexpected keepsakes create a doorway for memories left behind, healing and ultimately forgiveness and acceptance. While Jade searches for other artifacts of her father's life she explores painful years through his alcohol addiction and depression, and his many complexities. As though taking a peek into the memory box she creates, Jade writes affectingly about being a runner, and how it shaped her early life, laying the foundation that kept her relationship with her father from crumbling. Anyone who holds onto memories of lost loved ones will be captivated by Jade's absorbing look at the significance cherished objects can hold in our lives.