Don't Let Me Go: What My Daughter Taught Me About the Journey Every Parent Must Make

One day after reading a book about a wilderness adventurer, David Pierce’s fifteen-year-old daughter Chera announced that she wanted to climb a mountain. What David heard behind that wish was a bold declaration: “I’m growing up, Dad–what are you going to do about it?”

A few weeks later they bought matching backpacks.

Over a three-year period they climbed five mountains and ran in two marathons. Together they suffered sore muscles, bitter cold, sprung knees, shin splints, and broken spirits. But they also reveled in blazing sunsets, glissaded on a glacier, and celebrated numerous victories great and small. And in the process, they built an unshakable father-daughter bond that will withstand the tests of time.

As you read this wise, warmhearted, and often hilarious story of a daughter’s (and a father’s) coming of age, you’ll discover ways you too can create strong, loving relationships with the important people in your life, as you make your way through the valleys and over the summits of life together.

David W. Pierce is the co-author of two children’s books with his wife, popular Christian comedienne Chonda Pierce, and a memoir, Salvage. He has written ten short stories appearing in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine and Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine. A professor of English at Middle Tennessee State University, he also teaches at Taylor University in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. David and Chonda and their family live in Tennessee.