By Claudia Loucks
Geneseo Current

Carlie Newton Sanchez Will Be at Book Signing on April 26 in Geneseo

It was through her own grief of losing both parents that Carlie Newton Sanchez penned a children’s book to help her cope, but also to help others through their sadness.

“’Mama, Where Are You?’ helps children deal with losing a loved one. It reminds children and adults to see all of the places those loved ones can still be. This is the story of Emma looking high and low only to find mama has been around her the whole time.”

The author will be in Geneseo for a book signing from 4 to 6 p.m. on Friday, April 26, at Pegasus Fine Gifts, 117 South State St. in downtown Geneseo.

Copies of the books will be available to purchase at Pegasus, and also can be preordered from Pegasus by calling the store, 309-944-2359, or by emailing Katie@fourseasonsdirect.com.

The book was published by Amazon and is available to purchase at that site.

Even though Carlie Newton’s Mother, Cindy Newton, is no longer alive, she lives on in her daughter through the liver transplant she received from her mother when she was three months old. Carlie was born with a rare infant liver disease that affects the bile ducts.

As a result of the transplant, she was able to live a normal childhood and even traveled to Disney World for her “Make A Wish” trip in 2009.

She graduated from Geneseo High School in 2015 and from the University of Iowa with a Communications and Sociology degree in 2020.

Newton Sanchez remains active with the Iowa Donor Network and takes part in the Donate Life Transplant Games which is organized by Transplant Games of America, and is a multi-sport festival for individuals who have undergone transplant surgeries. This year the event will be in July in Birmingham, AL.

Newton’s journey with grief began in 2018 while Newton was competing at the transplant games when her mom was diagnosed with Stage 1 Breast Cancer, and after a period of radiation, was declared cancer-free.

“The tides turned in 2020,” she shared. “It was close to Mother’s Day when I got a call that my Mom was not feeling well and was going to the ER. We first thought my Mom had Pancreatitis but after two excruciating weeks of waiting for all the results, we found out she had Stage 4 Pancreatic Cancer.”

“I had just graduated from the University of Iowa, was working my first full-time job in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and my parents were living in Geneseo,” she said.

Cindy Newton was given six months and her daughter quit her job in Cedar Rapids and moved back to Geneseo to be with her parents.

“My Mom was diagnosed in May of 2020 and died in July that same year…”It is a brutal cancer,” Newton Sanchez shared. All of the five weeks after the diagnosis, she was sick and was in like a comatose state for the last two weeks of her life. We brought Hospice in so we could keep her at home as it was during the Pandemic.”

Carlie Newton Sanchez, at right, is photographed with her late parents, Cindy and Vince Newton, when the threesome attended the 2017 Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena, CA, when Carlie rode on the Donate Life float in the parade. Contributed Photo

“My Mom and I were very close,” she said. “We were best friends and we never went more than like four hours without taking to each other by phone.”

Two years after her mother died, her father, Vince Newton, was diagnosed with Glioblastoma, a type of brain cancer. He died in October of 2022.

Writing the children’s book, “Mama, Where Are You?” was therapy for Newton Sanchez.

She began working on the book a short time after her Mother died and while her Dad was sick.

“Writing the book has helped me, it has been therapeutic for me to put my thoughts down in writing,” she said. “I hope the book makes it into the hands of children who have been in similar situations as me and I hope it brings them a sense of comfort that they are not alone, as it did for me by writing the book.”

She currently is working on a second children’s book, “for kids who have lost their Dads,” Newton Sanchez said.

In addition to writing a book, Newtown Sanchez also organized a grief support group, S.O.U.L. (support, optimism, understanding and love) where those who have lost a loved one get together on a monthly basis, share a coffee, talk and share experiences, and she said, :This has also helped my grief.”

Carlie Newton Sanchez and her husband Colton Sanchez live in Huntsville, AL, where she works as a client experience specialist with Keel Point, a finance firm; and her husband works for Boeing.