"...Raab offers poignant and thoughtful insights to help us heal intergenerational trauma. Raab rightly reminds us that our ancestors live on in us and we are invited to call on them anytime we need help..." -- SONIA CHOQUETTE, New York Times bestselling author, The Answer is Simple and Ask Your Guides

"Diana Raab knows the terrain of the human heart... she invites readers to reflect upon their own life's journeys and to use writing and journaling to navigate a pathway for healing..." -- TERRA TREVOR, author of We Who Walk the Seven Ways

"Hummingbird is not only a poignant spiritual memoir, it is an invitation. Raab is accessible and authentic... She opens hearts and deftly offers insightful prompts, sweetly encouraging the reader's collaboration." -- MARILYN KAPP, author of Love is Greater Than Pain

"With disarming honesty, Raab slows down our jittery minds to share the intimacies of experiencing trauma and healing self-care in a way that they feel as normal as sleeping and eating... A safety net for the reader to explore their own path to hope." -- TRISTINE RAINER, author of Your Life as Story, and The New Diary

"Diana Raab's Hummingbird is far more than a memoir. It is a creative collage that offers hope, guidance, and inspiration for those willing to follow her on an inner journey to the wisdom of experience and ancestral trauma with an added touch of guidance for anyone looking to process their own life's transformations." Matthew J. Pallamary, author of Spirit Matters and Picaflor

"Like the tiny bird with the amazing heart who is her spirit guide, Diana Raab encourages us in Hummingbird to stop, wait, watch, and remember, mining the wisdom of the past, looking to the future, yet all the while enjoying the sweetness life has to offer in the current moment." Darlyn Finch Kuhn, author of Red Wax Rose, Three Houses, and Sewing Holes

"What a beautiful memoir, with so many revelations of the healing journey, and I love the prompts in each chapter. This book takes you on a journey and then gives you an opportunity to do your own self-reflection. Beautiful work!" Christine Corrigan Mendez, EdM, LPC NCC

"In tender and graceful prose, Diana Raab's memoir Hummingbird examines the experiences that have shaped her, however painful they may be. Her personal stories of hope and loss, illness and joy, and love and neglect invite us to reflect on our own ancestral influences and their role in shaping who we are today. Iridescent, Hummingbird dips, dives, and hovers. A beautiful, rewarding read." Cati Porter, author of small mammals

"Raab points out we receive many messages if we are aware of and in tune with our feelings and thoughts. If she can do this, obviously others are able to as well. The hummingbird is a recurring "character" who brings joy, guidance, and direction to her life. Clues to receiving messages are included for those who may wish to follow a similar path. This book imparts wisdom and encouragement for responding to our inner voices. It is almost a guidebook to help us live life to the fullest. Memorable episodes will have the readers thinking about the book in the future and seeing life with a new perspective. Refreshing and hopeful!" Carolyn Wilhelm, Midwest Book Review

"In her eloquent and soul-searching Hummingbird, Diana Raab holds a mirror up to her own life, chronicling pain and renewal, while offering readers a way in, creatively, to take stock of their own. With its sweeping subtitle, Messages from My Ancestors, this book is both a heartfelt memoir of several generations and a catalyst for the spiritual practice of writing as a way of healing." Roy Hoffman, author of The Promise of the Pelican

"Hummingbird offers us sage advice on how to work through challenging times. Raab stresses the importance of journaling and its capacity to help us keep our heads above water while we navigate life. At the end of each chapter, she provides powerful writing prompts that allow us to go deep to access our own stories. She also offers words of wisdom we should all live by. Speaking of her grand¬mother, Raab says, 'She taught me the importance of living each day to its fullest and as if it were my last.' This is an insightful and important book about love, surrender, and acceptance." Maureen Phillips, teacher, writer, editor

"In Hummingbird, Raab focuses on how examining the lives of those who've most influenced us can offer perspective, assist us through challenges, reinforce gratitude, bring joy and comfort, and help us live life more fully. Through telling stories and offering writing prompts, Raab provides a valuable roadmap for understanding our own lives by connecting to the past." Nancy McCabe, author of Vaulting through Time and Can This Marriage Be Saved? A Memoir

★ A work by Dr. Diana Raab, a seasoned memoirist, poet, and writing‑as‑healing expert! For nearly six decades, she has immersed herself in the fields of therapeutic writing and personal transformation, gently guiding readers to connect, through the written word, with the wisdom of their ancestors.
★ When the hummingbird’s wings hover in midair, time itself seems to hold its breath… This book uses the recurring motif of the “hummingbird” to weave together the destinies of three generations of women, crafting a rich tapestry of love, loss, and awakening. Her prose is both tender and powerful, like an invisible hand that softly cradles every soul lost within the echoes of family memory.
★ Blending the memoirs and diary‑writing practices of three generations of women, this book traces a path from trauma to insight, from silence to voice, drawing from loss, illness, and childhood wounds the strength to awaken and transforming personal stories into an inner journey steeped in spiritual depth yet deeply rooted in everyday life.

Exploring the depths of love and loss among three generations of women.
This is a spiritually rich memoir that traces the emotional bonds between three generations of women: the author herself, her mother, and her beloved grandmother. It was her grandmother’s wisdom that taught the author to trust her intuition, listen to her inner voice, and navigate the world. Following Diana’s footsteps, readers are invited to accompany her on a journey spanning more than fifty years—through her roles as a writer, nurse, research psychologist, teacher, cancer survivor, and more. Interspersed throughout are many thought-provoking reflections, guiding readers to explore their own connections with their ancestors.

Dr. Diana Raab
Dr. Diana Raab is an award-winning memoirist, poet, workshop instructor, thought leader, and survivor who has drawn strength from life’s challenges. Her work has been widely published and included in numerous anthologies. She frequently speaks and writes on the healing and transformative power of writing, contributing regularly to several magazines. Many of her talks are based on her book The Happiness of Writing: A Seven-Step Plan to Tell Your Story and Transform Your Life, as well as its companion volume, The Happiness of Writing: A Guided Journal. With nearly six decades of experience in the craft, her blog appears on platforms such as Psychology Today, The Wisdom Daily, The Good Men Project, and Thrive Global. She also serves as a guest blogger for many other websites. In addition, she is the author of two memoirs—Regina’s Closet: In Search of My Grandmother’s Secret Diary and Healing with Words: A Writer’s Cancer Journey—as well as five collections of poetry, including Fictional Love Affairs: Quiet Verses for Neruda. She has also edited two anthologies: Writers and Their Notebooks and Writers on the Edge.

Acknowledgments
Hummingbird (a poem by Diana Raab)

Chapter 1 My Story Begins
Chapter 2 My Grandmother, My Guide
Chapter 3 When a Loved One Takes Their Own Life
Chapter 4 A Visit
Chapter 5 My Grandfather and I
Chapter 6 Cancer, Isolation, and Intuition
Chapter 7 My Diary-Writing Practice
Chapter 8 Discovering My Grandmother’s Diaries
Chapter 9 Intergenerational Trauma, Inner Demons, and the Search for Meaning
Chapter 10 Confronting Childhood Wounds
Chapter 11 Remembering Words That Cut Deep
Chapter 12 Coping with Chronic Illness
Chapter 13 The Insights Life Bestows Upon Us
Chapter 14 Conscious Living and Transcendence
Chapter 15 Our Legacy

About the Author
References