CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WAND) - University of Illinois Police Officer, Valerie Marcotte wrote a children's book from her personal experience for other families to ease their journey through grief.
“It got me thinking that maybe I could do some good out of that with my job experience, my life experience, and loss. So, I decided to write a children’s book,” said Marcotte.
After Marcotte lost her mother in December 2021, she decided to help other families that may be experiencing grief as well. Although it is a children's book, people of all ages can relate.
“I feel like adults have resources at their fingertips. They have plenty of services they can seek. They have forums, groups, they have counseling they can drive themselves to. Children, they don’t have access to those things as easily and children also don’t understand their emotions quite yet,” said Marcotte.
Marcotte loves being able to help people not only in her role as a police officer, but as an author too.
“Being a police officer, you encounter people on a lot of their worst days. For us, it’s really easy to compartmentalize that to survive to get to the next call but I have a lot of extra training in crisis intervention and behavioral health detective, and things so going to those calls is kind of my bread and butter. I really enjoy helping people through those really hard times,” stated Marcotte.
You can find the book here.
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