Writing poetry is an incredible way to explore your feelings and work through struggles you are facing. Mary M. Tinajero wrote her first poem when she was in fourth grade at summer camp and discovered that she had a gift. After that, poetry became her outlet and way of expressing her voice. Pushing Past Pain Through Poetry: Love Letters to My Family is a touching collection of poems about memorable moments in Mary's life, as well as the lives of her family and friends. Throughout the book, she writes with honesty and vulnerability about topics such as raising a son, getting a second chance at love, blending a family, sending a child off to college, losing a parent, and becoming a grandmother. In the poems, Mary points back to the Lord and praises Him for how He helped sustain her in hard times and blessed her in times of joy.