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The Hardest Work You Will Ever Do by Mary Cook
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The Hardest Work You Will Ever Do

A "This I Believe" Essay

$2.09

Narrator Mary Cook

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Length 4 minutes
Language English
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Mary Cook explains how her recovery from grief taught her that grieving is not a battle, but a surrender, in "The Hardest Work You Will Ever Do", her contribution to NPR’s This I Believe series.

This I Believe is a National Public Radio program that features Americans, from the famous to the unknown, completing the thought that begins with the series title. The pieces that make up the program compel listeners to re-think not only what and how they have arrived at their own personal beliefs, but also the extent to which they share them with others.

Featuring a star-studded list of contributors that includes John McCain, Isabel Allende, and Colin Powell, as well as pieces from the original 1950's series including Helen Keller and Jackie Robinson, the This I Believe book collection also contains essays by a Brooklyn lawyer, a woman who sells yellow pages advertising in Fort Worth, TX and a man who serves on the state of Rhode Island's parole board. The result is a stirring, funny and always provocative trip inside the minds and hearts of a diverse group of Americans whose beliefs, and the incredibly varied ways in which they choose to express them, reveal the American spirit at its best.

This short audio essay is an excerpt from the audiobook edition of NPR's This I Believe anthology.

Mary Cook, who contributed "The Hardest Work You Will Ever Do" to NPR's This I Believe series, works on the ground crew for an air taxi company in Gustavus, Alaska, a community of 450 surrounded by Glacier Bay National Park. In addition to loading and unloading planes, Cook handles the mail and tends the town's only coffee house. She also serves as a hospice volunteer.

Mary Cook, who contributed "The Hardest Work You Will Ever Do" to NPR's This I Believe series, works on the ground crew for an air taxi company in Gustavus, Alaska, a community of 450 surrounded by Glacier Bay National Park. In addition to loading and unloading planes, Cook handles the mail and tends the town's only coffee house. She also serves as a hospice volunteer.

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Shop the sale

In celebration of Independent Bookstore Day, shop our limited-time sale on bestselling audiobooks from April 22nd-28th. Don’t miss out—purchases support your local bookstore!

Shop now
Celebrate indie bookstores with our limited-time sale! Shop the sale