"Katy Hutchison has created an excellent primer for handling loss with intelligence and dignity. She gives us a life lived through the eyes of a woman who has experienced the devastation of murder, the anguish of grief and the redemptive power of reconciliation. Walking After Midnight is a book where forgiveness emerges because of the beauty of the author’s character, the devotion she provides her family and her instinctual understanding that “an eye for an eye leaves everyone blind”. Walking after Midnight is remarkable because of the lack of self consciousness Katy has as she reaches and pushes towards a life of goodness. I have taught forgiveness to thousands of people around the world and rarely see such a strong grasp of the truth that my unkindness is not that different than your unkindness. All over the world people defend their hostility, acts of violence or simple nastiness because of the bad deeds done to them. I would suggest that our species willingness to excuse our own terrible behaviour because other’s having done them wrong is the primary reason this world continues to offer so much horror and hostility. Katy will have none of that. Even though she is devastated by the loss of Bob, her husband, she treats the young man who murdered him as if he is a valuable human being. She acknowledges that the young man merits punishment for his crime but also is a person who deserves love and a chance to redeem himself. To Katy that is a normal response, for the rest of us hopefully it can be learned. Katy actually helps this young man on his journey to healing and a life lived with purpose. The young man’s life matters to her and this magnanimity of character and their relationship leads Katy to a ministry that provides a fitting testimony to Bob’s life. I call this finding your positive intention and teach this to people in forgiveness classes. Katy shows us by her life how the rubber of kindness meets the road. It is called forgiveness, reconciliation and a desire to leave the world as whole as one can. Her story provides a face and narrative that can serve as an antidote for the endless cycles of violence that consume too many lives and too many countries."   

Frederic Luskin, Ph.D. 
Author Forgive for Good
Director Stanford University Forgiveness Projects
Co-Director Garden of Forgiveness at Ground Zero Project    

The Forgiveness Project: Stories for a Vengeful Age
Edited by Marina Cantacuzino
Jessica Kingsley Publishers, London.

The Psychology of Emotion in Restorative Practice
Edited by Vernon C. Kelly, Jr. & Margaret Thorsborne
Jessica Kingsley Publishers, London.