Angels Always With Me is the memoir of Thom Barrett, his wife, Lynda, and their two sons. The author briefly sketches his youth up to becoming a buyer of TV and radio time. At twenty-eight, he met Lynda in that industry. They married and adopted a boy with health issues. Lynda became pregnant, losing a daughter in the sixth month. Pregnant again, their son was also premature. This time neonatal care saved his tiny body but resulted in ongoing physical handicaps.

Lynda advocated for their boys’ health: Ty with Reyes syndrome; Andy with shunt and tracheotomy surgeries, besides cerebral palsy. The couple struggled with expenses that resulted. From time to time, an angel in the guise of a therapy worker, care giver, or stranger on an elevator encouraged them.

At thirty-eight, Ty died within forty-eight hours of having the same leg broken the third time while in a health care facility. In 2005, Lynda’s heart showed signs of stress. An angel surgeon gave her eight more years of life. She died of complications, going to hospice after setting things in order at home. Andy struggled with pain medication dependency and died after surgery for bowel blockage. The author gives all three of their eulogies. The reader's heart cries out against the brevity of life, even while recognizing the blessings of living with great love.

What makes a life story worth sharing when it is marked by much disappointment, disability, and death? Barrett admits that writing brought him comfort, filling a void and giving a reason to get up each day after his wife’s death. More importantly, by doing so he could look back and notice that angels had indeed touched him and his family over the years. This makes for a story others will want to read.

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