Shannon Melde
Shannon Melde is a mother, a home baker in Scottsdale, Arizona, and the author of a gentle book born from the hardest loss a family can face. After her daughter Maddie passed away at the age of fourteen in the summer of 2022, Shannon began writing in 2023 as a way to honor her memory and share the comfort she has experienced since. The result is a short, hopeful story that many grieving families describe as a quiet companion. This article explores why her work resonates, what readers can expect inside, and how it can support families who are learning to live with loss.
A Different Way to Talk About Loss
Most books about grief speak to the person left behind. Always With You takes a different path. It is written from Maddie’s perspective in Heaven, and instead of dwelling on what was lost, she describes how she stays close to the people she loves. The shift is subtle but powerful. A reader who has spent months looking backward is invited, softly, to look beside them instead.
The book is brief, at 44 pages, and illustrated by Tony Pham. It is listed for readers from age three through eighteen, so it can be read aloud to a young child or quietly by a teenager or adult. On days when concentration is hard and long books feel impossible, that simplicity is a kindness.
The Heart Behind the Book
Behind every page is a mother’s purpose. Shannon began writing in 2023, inspired by her wish to keep Maddie’s story alive and bring healing to others who have lost someone they love. Her days are still filled with the things that connected her to Maddie, from baking at her home bakery, Sugar and Chip AZ, to family time, music, and golf. She has also started a foundation in Maddie’s name, extending her mission beyond the book itself.
That sincerity gives the work its credibility. It is not written from a distance. It comes from lived experience, shared openly and with care, for readers who need to hear that they are not alone.
What Readers Find Inside the Story
The story unfolds through four themes, each one a small window into Maddie’s world.
- Life in Heaven: Maddie shares the peace she feels there, reading beneath her favorite tree, staying close to animals, and helping little children who arrive.
- Still Beside Her Family: She visits her dad at work, joins her mom while baking, and sits near her brother Brandon as he plays.
- The Things She Loved: Music, choir, shopping, pets, video games, golf, Hawaii, and family vacations bring her personality to life.
- Signs of Comfort: Dreams, hugs, familiar songs, and family traditions become quiet reminders that love continues.
Together, these chapters build one clear message: love remains close, even through grief.
Why Everyday Moments Bring Comfort
Grief often feels enormous, yet comfort tends to arrive in small things. A favorite song on the radio, the smell of cookies in the oven, a dream that feels unusually real. Shannon’s book honors those moments instead of rushing past them. By placing Maddie in ordinary family scenes, it gives readers permission to talk to their child, include them in traditions, and find joy again without guilt.
Those details also make the story feel true. Shannon’s own love of baking, golf, and music appears naturally in the pages. Maddie never reads as a symbol or an idea. She feels like a real girl with real passions, which is exactly what grieving families want to remember and celebrate.
Reading It With Children and Siblings
Young siblings often grieve in ways adults don’t expect. They may ask direct questions, go quiet, or return to play in the middle of a sad conversation. A story told in simple language and soft scenes can give them words for feelings they cannot yet explain. A few ideas can help:
- Read together at a calm time, without a rush to finish.
- Pause on a page and ask what the child notices or remembers.
- Invite them to share a favorite memory of the person they miss.
- Keep the book within reach so they can return to it whenever they like.
There is no single right way to respond. Some children will smile at the cookie-baking scenes, while others will want to talk about the signs Maddie sends. Both reactions are welcome.
Who May Find Comfort Here
Parents are the most obvious audience, yet they are far from the only one. Brothers and sisters, grandparents, close friends, teachers, and school counselors can all use a story like this to open a caring conversation. Reader feedback shared on the author’s website describes the book as tender, personal, and never hopeless. One reviewer noted that it does not try to explain grief away. It simply offers comfort through love, memory, and spiritual connection.
It is worth being clear about what the book is. It is a spiritual story shaped by one family’s experience and beliefs, not a clinical guide. Readers who are struggling deeply should also lean on trusted friends, family, a counselor, or a local support group. A comforting book can walk beside you, but people can walk with you too.
A Lasting Message of Love
Shannon Melde’s central idea is easy to hold onto: the people we love are still with us, just in a different way. Her website frames it as a simple invitation to stop looking up and to look beside you instead. That image stays with a reader long after the last page.
For families who are missing someone, Always With You does not promise that grief will vanish. What it offers is steadier and more honest: a reminder that love continues, memories can be shared, and healing is possible one gentle day at a time. In telling Maddie’s story, Shannon has given other families a place to rest, reflect, and feel less alone.
