I have known Sister Josephine Stewart for the past 12 years, and I can say one thing: she is a character. I mean that in the very best possible way. She has personality and vivaciousness. She can be stubborn and critical of authority figures. But she's never phony or condescending. She admits to insecurity and exposes her doubts and weakness--like how, after experiencing her first Tornado Watch in Wichita Falls, Texas, she "kept wondering why God told me to go there." Showing us her humanity makes her all the more lovable. Her character comes through very well in her autobiography, Letting Go: The Way into Abundance. This is a delightful book full of clever insights and pleasant surprises. There's none of that mightier-than-thou, preaching-down-to-thee-lesser-mortal tone anywhere in her book, or in her life. In other words, she's just like the rest of us. She doesn't let the status of sisterhood insulate her or use authority as a bludgeon to beat you over the head--like some of the nuns I grew up with in Catechism classes. I'm sure Sister Josephine has never smacked anybody on the hand with a ruler. She is a gentle spirit. She makes the religious life look fun, which it should be. She shares her life, her reality, and her truth. In her unique voice and through her experience, Sister Josephine shows us all that recovery from grief is "reaching out to others from a heart of compassion." She invites us all to go where she has gone, to travel the path of faith, and she shows us that it is vastly accessible. All we have to do is "to let go of guilt and the past and to forgive the unforgivable."Richard Kownacki is author of:Do Not Go Gentle: Successful Aging for Baby Boomers and All Generations